Brother's Justice

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Dax Shepard attempts to move his career out of comedy and into martial arts films, in this meta-mockumentary.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Dax Shepard, Nate Tuck, Tom Arnold, Ashton Kutcher, Jon Favreau, Bradley Cooper, David Koechner, Michael Rosenbaum, Ryan Hansen, Greg Siegel, James Feldman, Andrew Panay, Jessica Simpson, Carson Daly

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. The tone is tongue in cheek, pretending to be real when it's so obviously fake. And that's a tone that a lot of people can appreciate... Even though, at this point, we've seen a lot of fake movies about movies trying to get made.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: I'll tell you one thing, on more than one occasion, you can see the actors trying not to crack up, which is especially funny because they want so badly for you to believe this is all real.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: No, but I have to warn you, this movie hits high levels of homophobia, and medium levels of racism.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: It won the Audience Award at SXSW Film Festival, and I can see why. This is the kind of humor that's best experienced with a hip, alternative festival audience.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Dax presents himself as a real jerk, which I'm not sure is a great career-move. But then again, since the whole movie is a joke, maybe it's brilliant?

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Aside from a few purposely-campy film trailers, scattered throughout the film, the movie is meant to look like a bad hand-held documentary, so there's nothing too showy, except the musical choices. I'm especially partial to a terrible auto-tune number, which uses some of the main characters' dialogue to create a bad techno-remix that instantly gets stuck in your head.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: It walks a very fine line between wanting to be real and fake. And, if you believe that it's real, you now know that all actors know each other, all actors are jealous of each other, and they deal with their jealousy by beating each other up. But I guess if you've ever read a tabloid, you already knew that.

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

A: Having just been picked up for distribution at the Tribeca Film Festival, this movie is currently released on VOD. But it's coming out in theaters on May 12th in New York and L.A. Having experimented with this release tactic tonight, I have to say, it doesn't make much sense to pay $11 to see it somewhere across town in two weeks, when I can see it right now for $6, without ever having to leave my living room. That said, I can see how this film would be better enjoyed with an audience... I'm starting to see why theater owners are pissed off about this new distribution model.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Brother's Justice Trailer

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Cold Souls

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Actor, Paul Giamatti (Paul Giamatti), finds out that there is a technology by which you can extract your soul from your body, and decides that he should try that so that he can play the role of Uncle Vanya without having to feel any of that heavy pain.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Paul Giamatti, Dina Korzun, David Strathairn, Emily Watson, Katheryn Winnick, Lauren Ambrose, Armand Schultz, Boris Kievsky

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Stop! First of all, the premise is illogical. If you don't want to feel the pain of another person, you shouldn't extract your soul, you should quit acting . But more importantly, I don't think the filmmaker understands the soul's role in vitality; i.e, that without one, you're a motionless vegetable, who's usually considered to be dead.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Maybe if you're not sleeping AND you have a very esoteric sense of humor.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: No. But if you had any understanding of what a soul's purpose was before you saw that movie, that will be completely erased. Just in case you still see it, I've taken the liberty of printing Merriam-Webster's definition here for your future reference. "Soul: The immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life."

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Of course it will. Don't you know that when a movie is boring and pretentious and has an out-there concept it means it must be brilliant? This is the kind of movie that award givers don't want to admit they don't get, for fear that it will make them look stupid. But pretending to get it is a lot more stupid to me.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: I was expecting Being John Malkovich, in which an actor playing himself takes on the role of John Cusack, and that of Cameron Diaz, and that of Catherine Keener, and he's so good, that you completely forget that you're actually watching John Malkovich. In this film, Paul Giamatti acts more and less animated, but regardless of whose soul he's wearing, he still always acts like Paul Giamatti.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: I blame the director for the lack of versatility in Giamatti's performance, mostly because we know he's top notch and could've done anything she asked him to do.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The script is disappointing, mostly because the rules of what a soul can and can't do to your personality are never established, so the fun in the concept is completely missed. Also, the characters regularly make choices that go against who they are, and what they know to be true. For example, Paul Giamatti tells the soul extractor that what he's proposing is crazy. And not five minutes later, he's letting him extract his soul. Then, the soul extractor (David Strathairn) confesses that the Russians he works with are dangerous, and not 5 minutes later he gives Paul vital (traceable) information about who they are and how to find them. Even the soul mule (Dina Korzun), who knows first hand how dangerous her bosses are, betrays them without thinking twice, which leads me to believe that maybe they're not that dangerous after all.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/cold-souls/36222/trailers

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