The Soloist

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Based on a book, that's based on newspaper articles, that are based on a true story, this movie explores the relationship that is formed between a homeless musical prodigy and the L.A. Times reporter who befriends him in the hopes of writing about his story.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Robert Downey Jr., Jamie Foxx, Catherine Keener, Justin, Martin, Stephen Root, Rachael Harris, Tom Hollander, Lisagay Hamilton, Marcos De Silvas, Esa-Pekka Salonen

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. On every level this film tries too hard to be important, and it would have been more so, if we didn't see everyone working so hard to matter.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: I thought Jamie Foxx's hairstyle was funny.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Not even close. Which is probably its biggest failing.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: They thought about it last year, when they started showing previews at just the right time for awards consideration, but then they pulled the release from last year's required deadline, and released it now, at a time that is no less defeatist than waiving the white flag.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Robert Downey Jr. is his usual perfect self. Jamie Foxx has the bigger challenge of playing a character with a mental disorder, without coming off like he's acting. Does he succeed? I don't know enough schizophrenic people to say for sure, but his performance may be a good argument for casting unknowns as characters who have mental disorders, so at least you don't spend the whole time knowing that the guy isn't really schizophrenic.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Not one to experiment with naturalism, or the theory that the director should be invisible, Joe Wright likes to remind the audience at every turn that THIS FILM HAS A DIRECTOR. (Also see Atonement.) Some audience members may fall for his "look at me" style, but I find his over the top visual aides distracting and pretentious.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The true story and the book likely both had a stronger emotional impact than the movie does. The pace is slow, and by the end you feel neither inspired nor moved. That said, it's in no way hateable.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-soloist/30936/main

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Lymelife

(Guest Review by Russ)

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Set during the late 70s, a fifteen-year-old boy grapples with first love while dealing with a chaotic home life involving his constantly quarreling parents.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Rory Culkin, Emma Roberts, Alec Baldwin, Timothy Hutton, Jill Hennessy, Kieran Culkin, Cynthia Nixon

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. This is a paint-by-numbers ‘indie’ developed through the Sundance Institute which helps explain its pedigree both in front of and behind the cameras (e.g. Martin Scorsese is a producer on it). You’ve seen variations on it before many times, and since this film is dated, I'm going to allow myself to use a dated joke: I liked this movie the first time I saw it, when it was called The Ice Storm.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: The other reviewers make it sound like a yuck-fest from beginning to end-- don’t believe them! It's not a comedy, which isn't to say that you won't chuckle here and there-- if you’re paying attention.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Only if you’re intimate with the horror that is lyme disease.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Coming out in April…? Despite fine performances, I would guess that the distributors of this film have written off major award consideration.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: It’s a terrific cast and they all give terrific performances. Rory Culkin is in just about every scene – it’s very much his film – and his angular, oddly handsome face perfectly expresses the confusion, anger and bemusement of a 15 year-old boy going through major life-changes. The revelation is Emma Roberts (Julia’s niece) as the precocious love object of Rory’s affections. She goes from sexy to vulnerable – and everything in between – within the heartbeat of a single scene (multiple times) breaking down every stereotype of a 16 year-old teenager that ever existed. The adults are all good too – even Timothy Hutton in a pointless and thankless supporting role.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Apparently this is a pretty low-budget film, but it looks really good – getting the Long Island setting period detail (late 70s) just right. The film is small and intimate, and the direction is given over to letting the performances shine and in that regard it’s more than competent. The tone is also consistent but it’s not as ‘quirky funny’ as the filmmakers probably think it is.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: So about a half-hour into this you start to realize there’s no plot and maybe – unlike myself – you are fine with that because you rarely expect indie films to have plots because supposedly a plot would not make it very ‘indie.’ I miss having plots when they aren’t there regardless of what kind of movie it is. This movie would have been better with a plot, but as ‘coming-of-age’/'slice-of-life’ films go, it’s fine and will most likely hold your interest thanks to Rory Culkin and Emma Robert’s performances.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/search/lymelife/trailers

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17 Again

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: If you don't know what this movie is about from looking at the title, you're an idiot.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Zac Efron, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon, Matthew Perry, Sterling Knight, Michelle Tractenberg, Hunter Parrish, Melora Hardin, Jim Gaffigan, Brian Doyle-Murray, Nicole Sullivan

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! It's been done before, it'll be done again, but I don't think it will ever stop being a good time for all. Anyway, you can't really go wrong with a premise about suddenly changing ages, and getting mixed up in weird sexual situations like having to avoid your daughter's come-ons and resist your own attraction to your currently age-inappropriate wife.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Not guaranteed, but it will definitely make you smile.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Zac Efron is like porn for the 16 and under crowd. And since the movie opens on shots of his shirtless 6 pack abs, some girls will be screaming and crying by the end of the first scene.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: I'll bet Matthew Perry would give it an award for Movie I Most Wish Were My Real Life and Not some Made-up Story. Can you imagine if every time his life fell apart, he got to turn into a mature version of Zac Efron? Those hard times he fell on during the height of Friends never would've happened.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: All Zac Efron has to do to get the ladies screaming is walk to the beat of the soundtrack, looking cool. It's a good thing for him, too, cuz that's kind of what he does best. And I'm so glad that Leslie Mann married Judd Apatow, so that he could put her in his movies, so that Hollywood could get a chance to recognize how funny she is, and let her be a star in her own right.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: You can tell this director comes from an indy background, because he takes a story that is an otherwise standard example of what comes out of the studio machine, and tries to add some art to it. Sure it draws attention to itself as being totally on the nose, but if you didn't know from the actor's expression that he was going through a difficult time, at least the blatant lighting shift from bright and cheery to dark and dismal telegraphs that for you at every phase. The good news is, it's no longer important for an actor to convey his own feelings, when the dramatic shift in lighting and music can do most of it for him. And that means we can cast more really good-looking, totally talentless people in stuff!

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The set up is really heavy handed, with lines like, "You're my best friend"-- as if we couldn't tell. And, "If your wife hadn't kicked you out and your kids didn't hate you, etc."-- in case we weren't going to catch on to the family dynamic depicted in the very next scene... But once Matthew Perry turns into Zac Efron the fun begins, and the clunky exposition takes a rest.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/17-again/33126/trailers

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State of Play

(Guest Review by Jack)

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: After the brutal murder of the assistant/mistress of a junior U.S. Congressman (Ben Affleck), who serves as the chairman of a committee overseeing defense spending– an obvious Blackwater stand in--, buried secrets come tumbling out, inciting a reporter (Russell Crowe) and a political blogger (Rachel McAdams) to begin their quest for the truth.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, Robin Wright Penn, Jason Bateman, Jeff Daniels, Viola Davis, Michael Weston, Harry Lennix

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! This is a movie genre that they just aren’t making enough of anymore – adult thrillers. Psychological thrillers are hard to sell in a trailer, because they can't instantly knock your socks off without giving everything away, but ultimately, this is two hours of solid entertainment.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Ben Affleck's attempt at acting might. But that's not special, since the same could be said for any Ben Affleck movie.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Only when you think about what this movie could have been with a real actor instead of Ben Affleck.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Two words as to why it won't: Ben Affleck.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Have I mentioned Ben Affleck? Oh, I have? Then let's move on... Russell Crowe is always good and this is no exception. Rachel McAdams starts out well as the doe-eyed starter reporter, but kind of drops the ball in the one emotional scene she has.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Outside of some casting issues (I know I said we'd move on, but you have to admit, Ben Affleck is in the movie), Kevin MacDonald does a good job at keeping what could have been a tirelessly meandering plot within the confines of a tightly knit thriller.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Based on a UK miniseries, it wants to be today’s All the President’s Men. But because it is not a true story, it starts out at a disadvantage. The entire movie takes place over maybe three days, not the multiple-months of Watergate, so the investigation is not quite as buried at ATPM, but there are a few twists and turns that should keep you guessing ‘til the end. And the basic “Blackwater” conspiracy is eerily plausible. Also keep an eye out for a great scene in a parking garage.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: An interesting thru-line concerns the state of newspapers in this country. The digital age has not been kind to them, but you have to admit that there is something about seeing a newspaper headline that makes an event more real than seeing a computer browser headline. Maybe that is my age talking (and the fact that I am one of the dwindling numbers of daily newspaper readers), but I think that the makers of State of Play are as curious as I am to see what investigative journalism looks like in 10 years. I do not think it will be the same if it is exclusively online…

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/state-of-play/27010/video/state-of-play-trailer-no-1/2372618

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Hannah Montana: The Movie

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: When Hollywood starlet, Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus), gets too big for her britches, her dad (Billy Ray Cyrus) hijacks her back to Tennessee, to reconnect her with her roots, and Miley bitches.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus, Lucas Till, Melora Hardin, Emily Osment, Vanessa Williams, Peter Gunn, Margo Martindale, Jason Earles, Michael Musso, Moises Arias, Barry Bostwick

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. If you are or ever have been a pre-teen girl, there is no good reason not to set aside your pretension and indulge in this festival of corniness.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Mostly at how excited all the screaming, pubescent girls in the audience get every time Miley's love interest, Travis, smiles at her. You can feel their hormones raging through you as if they were your own... And that alone is reason enough to see this one in the theaters.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: I'm really too embarrassed to talk about that right now... Please don't lose respect for me.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: At this year's Academy Awards, Miley Cyrus humiliated herself on the red carpet by saying that she hoped to be back next year as a nominee for this movie... But considering that every song in the movie is a number one hit waiting to happen, I think her crazy prediction could actually come true. I even found myself dancing in my chair to some of the country ditties.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Who is Lucas Till?... You won't even need to ask that question in about one week. As Miley's charming, emotionally open, and thoughtful love interest, Lucas Till has just been positioned to compete for a spot on the list of young America's biggest heart throbs. Robert Pattinson watch your back!

Q: How is the Directing?

A: I'm not one to notice "goofs" in a movie, (i.e. continuity mistakes), but in this one I saw several without even trying. Including things like people on stage in one shot, who weren't on stage in the next, and clocks on the wall whose time did not match the lighting or time of day being described in the dialogue.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: It stays true to the TV show it's based on, in both wacky tone and ridiculous premise. If you like the silly plots on the Disney Channel show, you will appreciate how the writer built on it to tell the only storyline that justifies a feature length movie. And how could you not like the silly plots on the Disney Channel show? She puts on a blond wig! There's no way anybody could recognize that she's a famous pop star in that disguise!

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: Right when you thought line dancing was dead, Miley unleashes her new electric slide on the world. Since this girl is an instant trend factory, second only to Dora the Explorer, I'm just going to throw caution to the wind and accept the fact that we'll all be doing this synchronized dance together the next time we see each other at a wedding, Bar Mitzvah, or other dance-oriented function. See you on the dance floor!

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/hannah-montana-the-movie/33072/trailers

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Sleep Dealer

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Set in the near future, a young man (Luis Fernando Pena) moves to the booming city of Tijuana, Mexico to become a “node worker,” which is the Mexican migrant worker of the future. In this version of the future, migrant workers perform their hard labor tasks in virtual reality, and therefore never have to physically cross the border in order to send money home to their families.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Luis Fernando Pena, Leonor Verala, Jacob Vargas

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! It’s been a long time since there was an organic sci-fi film, not based on a comic book or a video game. In the vein of Blade Runner, this highly inventive and intellectual film takes the genre back to its roots to explore what becomes of humanity and society in the near future if we continue on the path that we’re on. And as sci-fi purists will tell you, it works because it’s all very plausible.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: The visual effects might. But if you remember that this is a small independent film out of Mexico, the visual effects will actually blow your mind. And then you’ll laugh at yourself for laughing in the first place.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: It’s more of a thinking man’s movie. But if you are that sci-fi geek, or that deep college student, or that bio-engineer, you will find a story rich with ideas.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: It was up for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, and as someone who watched most of the nominated films, I can tell you that this was one of only very few that weren’t too long, incredibly boring, completely pointless, or topped off with an ending that makes you want to kill yourself. Honestly, I’m surprised this little gem got nominated at all. It’s far too interesting to fit in with the rest.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: There weren’t any challenging acting moments in the script, but the main characters are attractive and the chemistry in the love story is strong, especially in the scene where they make love in a futuristic way you’ve never seen before.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: This Alex Rivera guy is going places. He tells a visual story that manages to be showy without showing off. The stylization is as organic to the story as the ideas about globalization and human disconnection through technology. I rarely understand why big studios pluck little indy and documentary directors out of oblivion and entrust them with multi-million dollar effects films, but in this case I really would get it.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The story is easy to follow, and the timely themes, including lacking water supply, technology going too far, and immigration, will stimulate your mind.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/search/sleep%20dealer/trailers

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Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: This documentary about 1980s heavy metal band, Anvil, shows us where they are now. And to our surprise, this band never broke up, they just faded away.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Anvil, their families, and the five people who drunkenly stumbled into the bar they happened to be playing at.

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. Depending on what kind of person you are, this band’s never say die attitude toward reclaiming the fame they had back in the early 80s will either inspire you, or make you wonder how people can never say die when they’re already dead and buried.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: They do have a volume knob that goes to 11.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: As these talented musicians pursue their lofty dreams, one thing that’s sadly evident is how incredibly out-dated their music is.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: To predict the future I will look into the past, and after seeing that it has already won several festival awards for Best Documentary, I can predict with assurance that it will.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: The guys in this band are best friends, so that’s sweet. They’re also 50-year-old musicians who are trying to make it, so that’s crazy.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: The director, Sacha Gervasi, used to tour with the band when he was a teenager and a fan, so he knows these guys pretty intimately. And while we can feel just how wacky his characters could be, with their reckless drive to be somebody, and their complete disregard for the fact that they already once were, somehow we feel like the best of the insanity may have been left on the cutting room floor. Perhaps Gervasi was too close to his subjects, and hoped to protect their image just enough to stop this film from having the raw, squirmy moments that would have put it over the top.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The story’s arc is standard and predictable, without quite enough surprise twists to make it feel completely original. Ironically, the most interesting part of the movie’s conclusion is likely to happen after the film gets some notoriety, as that will likely lead to the band’s newfound glory, even more so than recording a 13th and 14th album which nobody is going to hear.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/anvil-the-story-of-anvil/32510/trailers

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Observe and Report

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A mall cop (Seth Rogen) is totally f'd in the head.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Seth Rogen, Ray Liotta, Anna Faris, Michael Pena, Dan Bakkedahl, Jesse Piemons, John Yuan, Matt Yuan, Celia Weston, Collette Wolfe, Randy Gambill, Alston Brown, Danny McBride, Ben Best, Aziz Ansari, Patton Oswalt

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. This comedy is so dark, it may actually cause you to long for Paul Blart.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: The jokes are mean and ugly, and some of them even make you laugh.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: I cried a little inside when I realized that I enjoyed watching Paul Blart: Mall Cop slightly more than Ronnie Barnhardt: Go "f" yourself if you think I'm not a good enough cop... Did it write that out loud? It's okay. I'll be right back. I'm just gonna go kill myself now...

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: ... Not to cry wolf, but I decided to put of my imminent pending suicide on hold so I could give this movie the award for Best Use of Totally Unknown, Chubby, Asian Twins. They're adorable, and they're not even babies!

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Rarely have I seen so much believable drunkenness as in this movie. Anna Faris' eyes actually get glossy, making her look wasted, tired and haggered, like only a drunk slut can. And Celia Weston, best known as that actress you've seen a million times in a million movies, but couldn't possibly name any of them, even for a million dollars, is incredible as Seth Rogen's alcoholic, slurring-her-words, insensitively-brutally-honest mom.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: The budget has gone up exponentially from Jody Hill's first film, The Foot Fist Way, but the production quality hasn't gone up proportionally.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Many admirable risks are taken in this attempt to be something different. Most are cringe-worthy disasters, but a few teeter on the edge of genius. Thanks, at least, for trying to do something original.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: Male frontal nudity. Lots of it. And not the pretty kind.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/search/observe%20and%20report/trailers

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