Valentine’s Marathon: Never Been Kissed (1999)

Its taken me all day to finish writing up these posts but apparently after a whole day of meds, water and losing my voice then watching Superbowl, I finally feel a little more energy to get this finished up.  I promised a review to kick off the Valentine’s Marathon and we are starting with two consecutive days of Drew Barrymore movies. Its all coincidence because Netflix decided to expire those two movies.

The first of the two to kick off this marathon is Never Been Kissed. I’ve never seen this (or the other one for that matter). Let’s check it out!

NEVER BEEN KISSED (1999)

Director: Raja Gosnell

Cast: Drew Barrymore, Michael Vartan, David Arquette, Jessica Alba, Molly Shannon, John C. Reilly, Jeremy Jordan, Leelee Sobieski

 25 year old Josie Gellar (Drew Barrymore) is the youngest copywriter at the Chicago Sun Times.  However, her dream is to become a reporter.  A chance presents itself when she is sent to do a undercover report posing as a high school student in her old high school South Glen South.  Having to face her nerdy unpopular high school past, she tries to get along with the popular kids with the help of her brother, Rob (David Arquette).  At the same time, she realizes that her feelings for her English teacher, Mr. Coulson  (Michael Vartan) are growing at the same time.

 First of all, let me confess that I’ve never been much of a Drew Barrymore fan.  I’ve never seemed to like the roles she plays or maybe just how she portrays them but then, I haven’t seen all that much either.  To be fair, I actually watched Never Been Kissed and then rewatched it a few days later and my second viewing yielded a lot more love for it than the first viewing.  I’m not exactly sure what that says but one of the best parts was all the younger versions of actors/actresses that I’ve noticed like Leelee Sobieski and Jessica Alba both as students.  Oh, and there’s also a very young James Franco.

Never Been Kissed is an okay romantic comedy. I’m not going to remember it or want to add it to my movie collection any time soon but there’s something really sweet about it also.  I’m not such a huge fan of it exaggerating the whole nerdy student thing because trust me, I’ve known nerds in high school and I wasn’t a popular kid and its never that absurd.  Sometimes, I’m not a huge fan of stereotypical portrayals of certain roles and I think that’s really what didn’t work as well for me the first time. But, on the second viewing, I think I got used to it a little more and actually found that what really worked was the whole message about adolescence and high school and just how no matter what generation, it really doesn’t change all that much as far as the student population goes and just the whole popularity thing.

Now, we’re talking about a romantic comedy so our main stars here is Drew Barrymore’s Josie and Michael Vartan’s Sam/Mr. Coulson.  Now, there is two people which really has some amazing chemistry.  Oh, and what makes this movie awesome also was that Mr. Coulson totally is an accurate portrayal of that young good-looking teacher in high school that the girls like to go to their class.  In this case, its English class but for my high school, it was French.  Thats just my way of saying that I think Michael Vartan is really handsome and totally adds to why I would watch this again.

Other than that, what makes Drew Barrymore’s character Josie pretty good was that although she is totally awkward and nerdy at times, she has this really passionate regard of finding that person that she loves and would give her first “real” kiss.  I mean, its also one of the parts that made me fall in love with her character a little. Here’s the quote:

Never Been Kissed is not a perfect romantic comedy and its just about average with a few good and bad points to level itself off.  Drew Barrymore carries her role well as the nerdy Josie looking for her career break but finding more than she imagined in her love interest, Michael Vartan.  Their chemistry in every scene together is pretty fun to watch.  Also, there’s an enjoyable element of watching a younger Jessica Alba, James Franco and Leelee Sobieski on screeen.  With a few memorable quotes to add to the mix, this could be a decent choice with a few laughs at the absurd and awkward situations that happen.  It probably wont’ be memorable but there are a few sweet moments to enjoy. 🙂

Double Review: Sin City (2005) & Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (2014)

Surprisingly enough, I got selected for a special advanced screening of Sin City: A Dame To Kill For.  However, my memory of the first one was not that great especially since I didn’t remember much, so I decided to revisit it the night before I went.  The experience of being the first group to see the movie is definitely great and since I’ve been doing this little blog and diving into the world of movies, I’ve learned that I’ve changed a little in how I appreciate movies and that is the main reason why I wanted to revisit this.

Since I’ve been massively behind with everything, I decided to just go ahead and do a double review of these two movies. It baffles me that after almost 10 years we get a sequel for Sin City but still, lets see how it all went.

SIN CITY (2005)

Director: Frank Miller & Robert Rodriguez (special guest director: Quentin Tarantino)

Cast: Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Rosario Dawson, Alexis Bledel, Powers Boothe, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jaime King

A film that explores the dark and miserable town, Basin City, and tells the story of three different people, all caught up in violent corruption.-IMDB

I have no other way has to how to describe this movie but just use the synopsis in IMDB. I’d give it a shot but honestly, I think it all starts with this.  The first time I saw Sin City in theatres with some college friends, I thought it was THE most boring thing ever.  Why? Because nothing made sense and it was like a jumble of nothing.  It was beautiful and black and white gory and brutal.  Its not really not my thing and as I rewatched it a few nights ago, I saw it in a different light.  There is a brilliance to the jumbled-up story and I stayed awake for it and apparently, I only remembered two parts from the original viewing.

What I absolutely love is the style.  The black and white and the interlacing of sharp colors: the red silk (and sometimes, blood), the colors in the eyes, the contrast in hair and that sort of thing.  It just makes an impression.  Then you have one of the bad guys, Yellow Bastard who is just a disturbing and ugly character that popped out because he was literally yellow.

The second thing that I love about it was the cast.  Bruce Willis is just amazing as Jack Hartigan.  Clive Owen is awesome as Dwight.  And then there’s the passion and chemistry between the characters. The stories gave time for the characters to grow and develop in exactly the space and time it needed.  Each of the stories had their impact and honestly, Basin City has some pretty impressive characters.  The Old Town girls are brutal, violent and fun to watch.

As I sit here thinking about it more, its really starting to grow.  The third thing that works is the stories.  Everyone has something that makes it worthwhile to watch. It has exaggeration, sarcasm, darkness, violence, manipulation.  This town is full of ugly people in personality.  Its corrupt and dark but strange enough, its also covered in beautiful women who are almost as lethal as you can imagine.  There are boundaries and all that.  Its a pretty amazing set-up for a movie.

Sin City has the formula for a great movie and for the most part, it delivers.  The question is whether its your type of movie.  I love the comic book visuals, the sharp contrasts, the set up of the town and the stories of our main characters, and especially the fantastic cast.  It was well-balanced, brutal and very fun to watch. However, its not exactly my type of movie that I go for everyday so it took time for me to really see it through.  The second viewing definitely made me praise it a lot more.

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (2014)

Director: Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller

Cast: Jessica Alba, Mickey Rourke, Josh Brolin, Eva Green, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rosario Dawson, Powers Boothe, Bruce Willis

Some of Sin City’s most hard-boiled citizens cross paths with a few of its more reviled inhabitants.-IMDB

On a lesser run time than the first one and having a few new characters, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For still lacks a little something.  I loved the style that was equally has beautiful as the first with the black and white and sudden colors to give it a great experience.  The music was awesome and matched the atmosphere.  I’m trying to pinpoint in my mind if there were 3 or 4 story arcs right now but they weren’t quite as fun as the first.

 

The characters were great because the cast is still very decent.  Mickey Rourke returned as Marv and is still as violent (and a bit stupid) as before.  The new additions of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Eva Green and Josh Brolin all bring something new to the table. Joseph Gordon-Levitt gets his own story arc as a cocky gambler who never loses.  He goes to Kadie’s to challenge Senator Roark except in the corrupted sin city, he gets warned time and time again that its not a wise thing to do.  As much I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt in absolutely anything and he is very wonderful as Johnny, I felt his story wasn’t quite where I wanted it to go.

The next story arc was for an older Dwight (previously played by Clive Owen) but is returned this time played by Josh Brolin. Dwight’s story is possibly the most elaborate.  He is trapped in a flame that he can’t shake off.  He tries to not respond to the attractive Ava, played by Eva Green who is now married to a rich man.  She comes back and he falls right back into her arms.  This leads to a game of manipulation, a trap, revenge and a lot of naked Eva Green scenes. This one was actually pretty fun to watch.  The chemistry, passion, manipulation all works out even if you can predict what will happen 😉

I guess, the fourth story would be Marv retracing how he ended up where he was, except I’m wondering if there was anything for him.  Except, Marv, played by Mickey Rourke (like the first one) is the key to drawing everything together because he appears in all the stories in one way or another.  If anyone is easily manipulated, it would have to go to him. Plus, he is the action and the brutal violence.  There is no doubt that Marv is a great character and Mickey Rourke does a great job, even after 9 years he still has the essence of Marv in him and revives him on the big screen.

I personally like the follow up with Hartigan’s death and the impact it has on Nancy the best.  The roles are both still played by the original two, Bruce Willis and Jessica Alba. Although Nancy and her dancing scenes are thrown around the entire movie and it lets the audience see how she’s completely broken by it all.  Its a mental struggle for her and she not only wants revenge that she can’t pick up the courage to do so she drowns herself in alcohol.  In her struggle, she sees glimpses of Hartigan, as if he’s never left her side.  Its really something to watch.  There was one shocking part that I never would’ve guessed and its pretty awesome the way they handled it.

Overall, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is not as good as the first one.  The stories lack the punch it had in the first one, even though there are two that particularly stand out.  However, the style and the music is still amazing.  The 3D is done extremely well and adds to the overall effects.  The cast does a great job at bringing everything they can to the movie and for the most part, they do a very good job.  Even the new additions, Joseph Gordon-Levitt brings a charm to his story (even though it falls flat), Josh Brolin has a compelling character and story and Mickey Rourke is fantastic once again as the ever so violent Marv.

I need to make a point of saying this: If you were a fan of the first one, the chances of you enjoying this one more than me is very high.  Keep that in mind when you decide whether you’d like to see this 😉

Are you a fan of Sin City? What makes it so great to you? Have you been anticipating the sequel? Do you think its been long-awaited or unnecessary?

 

The Killer Inside Me (2010)

Next up in the recommendations was after my review of Gone Baby Gone from Tyson at Head in a Vice to check out The Killer Inside Me.

Director: Michael Winterbottom

Cast: Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson, Ned Beatty, Elias Koteas, Tom Bower, Simon Baker, Bill Pullman, Liam Aiken

West Texas Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford (Casey Affleck) is asked to evacuate a woman, Joyce (Jessica Alba) due to her involvement with the powerful man Chester Conway’s son, Elmer.  Little did he know that she would attract him and drag him into this mess, causing him to show a hidden serial killer self.  As he pulls himself out of the situation, Joyce and Elmer both dies.  DA Howard (Simon Baker) is sent in to investigate.  Lou has to try to continue on as he usually does despite all the suspicions cast on him and put on a facade especially in front of his girlfriend, Amy (Kate Hudson).  As things get more serious, he starts to lose himself bit by bit as he tries to keep the situation from spiraling out of control.

I have no idea how to write this synopsis.  The Killer Inside Me is a decent movie.  I did find it a bit slow in the beginning but it is an attractive little movie because of its cast and the charming music they use in the background that really helps set the mood.  However, something didn’t click for me in the beginning of the movie.  I don’t really know what, maybe some connection was missing and that had me a little less engaged in the first half of the movie.  Maybe after the review, I’ll see it a bit more clearly.

The best thing about this movie has to be its cast.  First off, we have Casey Affleck as the main character Lou Ford.  In the beginning of the movie, his character seemed a bit boring and empty but as the movie progressed, you can tell he was seriously out of his mind.  The expressions he makes in his quiet tone of voice is so creepy and deep.  His sexual encounters with both the lovely ladies, Joyce played by Jessica Alba and Amy played by Kate Hudson was pretty hot and steamy and downright passionate.  Quite a convincing act but even through that we saw the “killer inside” that was leaking out.  The mystery of his character was what made it very intriguing to watch.

The movie does have a lot of style and visually, the shots of the area are pretty nice to watch.  The scenes are well- balances and attractive to the viewers.  The only thing that I didn’t really get was the story itself.  I understand what they wanted to do and how it was about Lou Ford losing control of that killer inside him and his deep dark secrets.  Casey Affleck did a fantastic job with that as mentioned in the previous paragraph.  The only issue I had was the fact that I felt this story was going in circles.  It just kept doing the same thing over and over and in a really slow way.  There were parts in the middle that I was just bored.  I had to split this movie in half and I usually don’t do that.  Maybe its because this movie had something more profound to think about, I don’t know.  I never really understood why he did any of it.  Was that the point? To show that he was just a crazy unrational cold-blooded killer in the first place?

A lot of questions are still going through in my head about this movie about the plot.  Maybe thats whats missing…the motive for all this and what means it was to obtain? I probably just need to watch this again.  That aside, this movie was packed with a bunch of awesome actors aside from the main ones.  We have Simon Baker in the role of the DA and he is totally awesome! Maybe its because I already like him as an actor a lot so he impressed me.  There was also an appearance from Bill Pullman.  Although he’s somewhat changed from when I last saw him (aged a bit), he was a nice addition.  Oh, and I was happy that Liam Aiken (the kid from A Series of Unfortunate Events) was in this also.

This movie is a bit confusing for me.  I will recommend it if you want to see an outstanding performance by Casey Affleck.  If you want a movie with style, this also has a lot of that.  The music really does mesh well with it, making it quite an enjoyable experience.  I just can’t help but feel like I’m missing something from the plot.  Maybe I need to pick up the novel and read it to fully understand better what was really going on.  Or maybe, there was a storyline setup that didn’t work out too well.  I can’t help but think that the script/story could’ve been just a little stronger.

Thanks to Tyson for this very mind-boggling movie experience.  I haven’t had one of those in a while.  Check out his site with great movie reviews and his awesome Desert Island segment 🙂 I linked his site on the top when I first introduced him.