Repost: Inside Llewyn Davis (April 8th at the CWRU Film Society Strosacker Auditorium)

[INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS screens Saturday April 8th at 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm at the CWRU Film Society Strosacker Auditorium.]

Review by Pamela Zoslov

“The film doesn't really have a plot. That concerned us at one point; that's why we threw the cat in.”

That's what Joel Coen, one-half of the Coen brothers, has said about their latest offering, INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS. It's the kind of dismissive statement we've come to expect in Coen Land, where deep analysis is considered laughable. In 2001, I wrote in a profile of Ethan Coen:

With the Coens, it’s easy to fall into the trap of overanalysis. They long ago confessed their infatuation with the novels of James M. Cain and Dashiell Hammett, but Ethan says critics overestimate their literary influences. 'They read too much into it,” he says. 'We’re presumably these movie brats. They mention movies that we’re supposed to be influenced by, which we haven’t seen.' No doubt that’s because the Coens’ movies revisit and reinterpret a wide range of popular film styles. 'To be fair, we seem to invite that kind of exegesis, especially with Barton Fink. But you do stuff because it feels good for the story. There’s no code.

Kong: Skull Island

By George M. Thomas

King Kong makes his return to the screen in Kong: Skull Island.

KONG: SKULL ISLAND is a B-movie that possesses an A-list type of pedigree.

From the title alone the expectation is that this would be one of those cheesy, retro flicks that used to appear on UHF television stations in the ‘60s and ‘70s.  Locally, think Super Host or Ghoulardi.

But do not miss the opportunity to see a movie that’s incredibly well done, laced with humor and takes modern special effects and uses them to its full advantage.

This is the movie, which happens to be set in 1973, the most recent remake of GODZILLA should have been.  There’s no hiding the goods in this one.  Kong appears early and often and he’s a magnificent cinematic creation in a story that’s up to the task. Does it contain a great rumination on life?  Nope. But it sure as hell is fun and it features a cast that buys into that notion and goes along for the ride.

The Monuments Men

Review by Pamela Zoslov

With its dramatic real-life subject matter and stellar cast, you'd think THE MONUMENTS MEN, the new movie directed by George Clooney, would be more, well, monumental. It's a comedy-drama about the Allied mission to rescue the art treasures of Europe from their methodical plunder by the Nazis. Clooney stars with Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville and Jean Dujardin as members of the special platoon of curators, museum directors and art historians who undertake the dangerous job.

All that star power works against the movie's plausibility, making it feel more like OCEANS 11 in Army drag than a realistic history. Clooney, whose directorial efforts have been variable (ranging from GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK to LEATHERHEADS), seems to have trouble settling on the right tone, so the movie lurches uneasily from M*A*S*H/Hogan's Heroes barracks comedy to mawkishness as two members of the platoon are killed. (The two who perish are played by the less famous of the bunch, so their deaths are preordained.)

Inside Llewyn Davis

Review by Pamela Zoslov

“The film doesn't really have a plot. That concerned us at one point; that's why we threw the cat in.”

That's what Joel Coen, one-half of the Coen brothers, has said about their latest offering, INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS. It's the kind of dismissive statement we've come to expect in Coen Land, where deep analysis is considered laughable. In 2001, I wrote in a profile of Ethan Coen:

With the Coens, it’s easy to fall into the trap of overanalysis. They long ago confessed their infatuation with the novels of James M. Cain and Dashiell Hammett, but Ethan says critics overestimate their literary influences. 'They read too much into it,” he says. 'We’re presumably these movie brats. They mention movies that we’re supposed to be influenced by, which we haven’t seen.' No doubt that’s because the Coens’ movies revisit and reinterpret a wide range of popular film styles. 'To be fair, we seem to invite that kind of exegesis, especially with Barton Fink. But you do stuff because it feels good for the story. There’s no code.

Monsters University

Review by Pete Roche

It’s been twelve years since monocular Mike Wazowksi and fur ball friend James P. Sullivan rescued Boo, thwarted slithery Randall and crab-legged Mr. Waternoose, and converted the Monstropolis power grid from scream to laugh-based energy.

Pixar Animation Studios has whipped up several excellent computerized cartoons since then (FINDING NEMO, THE INCREDIBLES, UP), the most recent arriving courtesy its corporate parents at Disney.

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY marks the third time Pixar has revisited one of its wondrous CGI worlds, having served up extra helpings of anthropomorphic action figures and automobiles in the TOY STORY and CARS franchises (and FINDING DORY splashes down in 2015).  But this is the first instance of the acclaimed electronic illustrators going backwards, opting for a prequel delving into the history of two of its most beloved characters instead of a sequel about what happens next.

Repost: Monsters, Inc.

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Pixar's MONSTERS INC. has the distinction of the being one the nominees of the newly-minted 2001 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature (it lost to the first SHREK) recognizing, of course, that with the aid of CGI, there would be a torrent of bit/byte-based things, some of them potentially worth seeing. Certainly this one is; most Pixar films have been top-class. Of course, I'm in CARS 2 denial here, and it may not be long before we get MONSTERS INC. 2 with a similar prefab 007-spoof international-espionage plot tacked on (if found please return to Fred Flintstone).

Argo

Review by Bob Ignizio

52 United States citizens were taken hostage by Iranian revolutionaries on November 4th, 1979; their ordeal would last 444 days. Only six employees from the U.S. Embassy managed to escape being taken, eventually finding sanctuary in the Canadian embassy. Unfortunately, they still couldn't leave their safehouse, so while their conditions were certainly better than those of their fellows, they were effectively still prisoners. But thanks to the power of science fiction, comic book art, and the movies (plus a little bit of help from the CIA), the Americans were smuggled out of Iran and back home after 79 days. ARGO, directed by and starring Ben Affleck, is the more or less true story of how that happened.

Monsters Inc. (January 28th at the CWRU Film Society, Strosacker Auditorium)

[MONSTERS, INC screens Saturday January 28th at 7 pm and 9 pm at the CWRU Film Society, Strosacker Auditorium.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Pixar's MONSTERS INC. has the distinction of the being one the nominees of the newly-minted 2001 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature (it lost to the first SHREK) recognizing, of course, that with the aid of CGI, there would be a torrent of bit/byte-based things, some of them potentially worth seeing. Certainly this one is; most Pixar films have been top-class. Of course, I'm in CARS 2 denial here, and it may not be long before we get MONSTERS INC. 2 with a similar prefab 007-spoof international-espionage plot tacked on (if found please return to Fred Flintstone).

Red State (now available on home video)

[RED STATE is now available on home video.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

RED STATE has been promoted as Kevin Smith's take on the horror genre, and for about the first 30 minutes or so that would be a fair enough description. A trio of teens (Michael Angarano, Kyle Gallner and Nicholas Braun) hoping to get lucky answer an online personal ad from a woman who claims to want all three of them at once. The woman is Sarah Cooper (Melissa Leo), who turns out to be the daughter of fire and brimstone preacher Abin Cooper (Michael Parks), clearly modeled after Westboro Baptist nutjob Fred “God Hates Fags” Phelps.