Saturday, October 29, 2011

The Bar Closed Early for "The Rum Diary"

Johnny Depp ( Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) stars in this film as a failed novelist turned reporter. After arriving in Puerto Rico he is greeted by some disturbing scenes of unrest and poverty in the country. He is put on a somewhat dead end position for the paper and he strives to right to the heart of the problems in the country. While on his drunken misadventures for the truth his is aided by Michael Rispoli (Kick-Ass) who plays the always present and always drunk companion. Also joining in the the drunken debauchery at times is the poorly managed Giovanni Ribisi (Avatar). Depp is drawn towards a seedy deal headed by Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight). Seeing Eckhart in this role was interesting because his personality seemed similar to his character as Two-Face which I found rather enjoyable. Depp and Eckhart also share a love interest in actress Amber Heard (Zombieland). The scenes of Rispoli and Depp enjoying some drunken merriment were some of the best, but overall the movie seemed to progress slowly and the payoff by the end was rather inconsequential. Heard seems to be type casted as the one dimensional love interest and continues to be so in this film. This film did have some good moments but not enough to credit its two hour run time, which ended with a lackluster cliche and text to tie off some loose ends. This is one I would say is worth waiting to see at a matenee showing or the discount theatre. 

Final Grade: C

"Hanna" is Disturbingly Chilling

Hanna stars, Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) as the pale complexioned title character. Her father played by Eric Bana (Star Trek [2009]) sends her to kill an agent played by Cate Blanchett ( The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). Ronan is a highly skilled child who joins society as an innocent person who does terrible things. This films use of music not only through its soundtrack but also the chilling song one of the antagonist whistles through the films adds to the eeriness of this film. This film is full of violence but it avoids violence for the sake of entertainment, it is only used to show the necessity of the actions that Hanna is taking. And when seeing the end of this film I was left with some feeling of confusion and dissatisfaction, but I don't believe the movie could have ended any different. Another interesting feature of this film is its similarities to the film Run Lola Run. In many of the scenes Hanna is running around to some techno beats and it seemed very reminiscent of this film. This is a good movie but it is not one to watch if you are feeling in a rather pleasant mood as this movie will leave you feeling a little sullen. But none the less worth a watch. 

Final Grade: C+ 

"30 Minutes or Less" was Right on Time

30 Minutes or Less is a classic example of a comedy, with some crazy dialogue and a crazier storyline. It stars Jessie Eisenberg (The Social Network),Aziz Ansari (Get Him to the Greek), Danny McBride (Your Highness), and Nick Swardson (Grandma's Boy). This film revolves around Eisenberg who gets a bomb strapped to him by McBride and Swardson, and he consults his best friend played by Ansari to try and help him rob a bank to get the bomb taken off. There is not a lot to say about this movie than if you want something to sit back, relax, and have a few laughs this is a good choice. Also I was a biasedly impressed by the soundtrack because it has a song by one of my favorite artist in it, Kid Cudi. Overall an enjoyable film that if you get a chance to see one night is worth the 90 minutes to see. 

Final Grade: B-