Shmee.Me

June 18, 2014

The Paladin takes his life in his own hands with Safety Not Guaranteed

Time travel is hard; first there is the technological bits and bobs to work out and then consider the ramifications of your actions in the past and their ripple effect throughout time and space… tearing a hole in the fabric of human existence. Thankfully this movie really has nothing to do with that.

Safety Not Guaranteed is a character study. Darius Britt (Aubrey Plaza) is a woman adrift in her life in Seattle, working as an intern at Seattle Magazine. When Jeff Schwensen (Jake Johnson) a writer at Seattle Magazine wants to investigate a classified ad requesting a partner to travel back in time, Darius’ interest is piqued and she volunteers to go. We soon meet the man behind the ad, Kenneth Calloway (Mark Duplass) a jean jacket wearing, mulleted, youth trapped in an adult body. Darius is drawn to him and convinces Kenneth to take her on as his partner. As the two train together, preparing themselves for the “heat” through weapons training and martial arts, the attraction is obvious. However the question lingers throughout – did Kenneth really build a time machine?

The characters in the story are pretty great, although Jeff’s character is kind of a tragic waste who you want to like but can’t because he’s a tool. Mark Duplass plays Kenneth with a strange seriousness, one part adolescent and one part adult – balancing the absurd premise with a very human motivation. Aubrey Plaza is fantastic as the husk of a woman who finds life again as she gets rapped up in Kenneth’s world.

There is swearing, drinking, and carousing in this movie (pretty much all Jake Johnson’s character Jeff), so be aware and the ending for some reason fell a little flat for me. I think it showed too much, unlike the rest of the movie where things were vague and mysterious. Some ambiguity at the end would have worked great.

Should you watch Safety Not Guaranteed? I’d say, if you like Napoleon Dynamite or Cohen Brother’s films then you’ll probably enjoy this character driven comedy. Its quirky, its not necessary laugh out loud funny, but you will giggle a little.

June 13, 2014June 13, 2014

Shmee Contemplates List Of Superhero Movies

So the website Nikki Finke claims to have scooped DC/Warner Brothers big Comic Con announcement by getting their list of comic book movies they have in development. It goes something like this:

May 2016 – Batman v Superman
July 2016 – Shazam
Christmas 2016 – Sandman
May 2017 – Justice League
July 2017 – Wonder Woman
Christmas 2017 – Flash and Green Lantern team-up
May 2018 – Man Of Steel 2

Overall it seems like a pretty good line up, and ThePaladin and I agree that a Green Lantern/Flash team-up sounds wonderful! The only thing that really throws me off is that they would try and do a Shazam movie two months after the Batman V. Superman flick. I love Captain Marvel in all his or her forms, or whether he is at Marvel or DC, but it seams like an odd choice since not a lot of people know who he is anymore. The only reason I can see for doing it is to use the Captain Marvel name before Marvel does just so they don’t have to deal with the confusion.

The other odd thing about this list is that it lacks a date for Batman. You remember Batman right? The guy that makes all the fat stacks for Warner Brothers. Probably the most loved superhero of all time. It seems like they would want to get a Batman movie up and running real quick, especially after spending all that money on Ben Afleck.

We will see if this list comes true or not in July, and if it does Nikki Finke may become the entertainment scoop blog to watch.

June 12, 2014

Shmee Unfortunatly Watched Red 2!

When the movie RED was a surprise hit for Lionsgate in 2010, it surprised no one that they made a sequel RED 2 in 2013, but sadly it lacks all the fun and charm of the original. Movies like this are why sequels get a bad rap. It has no new ideas, and it seems like everyone is in it just to get paid.

The plot starts a little while after the first movie and Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker) is getting bored now that her boyfriend Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is no longer taking her on dangerous missions. Luckily for her their old friend Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) shows up and gets them all wrapped up in another adventure. Which much like the first movie is them running from the CIA who wants to kill them, again, for some reason. While on the run they will meet old friends, and have to team up with some new ones.

RED 2 is pretty much a worse version of the first one. In RED it was fun watching old agents kicking butt and making people pay for coming after them, but to watch the same thing over again is pretty lame. If you don’t have a new idea for a sequel you shouldn’t make it. It is a shame too since RED has a good cast, and there is all sorts of spy stuff they could have done. The only thing they did better in this movie are some nifty hand to hand fight scenes.

Speaking of the cast, none of them really bring any life in to their roles this time around. They all know this is a cash grab, so they just put on their smug spy faces and get the movie done. The only one that seems to be having any fun is Anthony Hopkins as a crazy doctor who makes weapons of mass destruction, but this is his first time around with RED, so maybe it was all still new and fresh for him.

The worst part of this movie is how forgettable it is. I watched this movie weeks ago, but the reason I am reviewing it now is because I had forgot I watched it. That is not a good thing for a movie. Since they didn’t have a good script for this movie they should have just skipped it. With this cast, had they tried a little harder they may have had a viable franchise on their hands, but it is to late for that now. I am pretty sure this movie killed any chance for a RED 3, and after the snoozefest that was RED 2 nobody is sad about that.

June 6, 2014June 6, 2014

The Paladin puts Ant-Man under the microscope

…hear him sizzle!

Ant-Man… Marvel superhero with the ability to grow and shrink in size (I had to check Wikipedia for a second just to be sure) and star of the upcoming film Ant-Man. There are several problems with Ants (as like to call him) the foremost being nobody knows who Ant-Man is. Well that’s not true, he has his fan base and he is a founding member of the Avengers. However after umpteen years and who knows how many events in the Marvel universe, does that really matter? The second problem is this film… it has no director. They had originally tapped Cornetto Trilogy director Edgar Wright to write and direct; they had even started filming. Then about a week ago he left and they haven’t been able to replace him (nor should they). The rumor was Disney, who owns Marvel, had a new script written that tore the heart out of the film for Wright.

So that leave us, the potential viewers, wondering if this film should even be made. I’ve liked Wright’s movies, so I’m sad to see him go. I greatly enjoy what Marvel has done with their comic book movies. But Ant-Man doesn’t carry any real weight with me and there is a second, lesser script. I think Ant-Man should go back down… to the ground… to get out of the way for far more interesting characters have their films made (Shmee would probably suggest Power Girl). I don’t see our hero escaping this one!

May 30, 2014May 30, 2014

Shmee Finds The Way Way Back!

The Way Way Back is an independent movie released by Fox Searchlight Pictures in 2013. It was written and directed by the Academy Award winning duo Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (Community) (they won for The Descendants by the way). This movie continues their winning ways. They know how to write touching and funny characters.

The story is about Duncan (Liam James) a teenage boy on vacation with his mother (Toni Collette) and her jerky boyfriend (Steve Carell) Trent. He is having a hard time dealing with the divorce and his mother dating, and to make matters worse Trent is critical of Duncan’s every move. As luck would have it Duncan meets Owen (Sam Rockwell) a local waterslide owner who takes Duncan under his wing.

The writing is very good in this film. Faxon and Rash are proving to be a power writing couple. The dialog is sharp and witty, and it gives the actors the ability to act to their full potential. Even though if you think back and look at the story it seems a bit contrived, when you are watching it all play out it is engrossing.

The actors are all great. I love Sam Rockwell, and he once again shows why he is one of my favorite actors. He is able to play the loveable looser Owen so well in this movie that I want to hang out with him and work at the waterslides for the summer. Steve Carell’s Trent is a complete jerk in this movie, and you will hate him by the end of this film. He never slides back in to lovable dork Michael Scott from The Office. Liam James as Duncan is a believable teen in crisis. You just want to give him a hug the whole film.

This was a great film to watch. It makes you both love and hate the characters in it. If there was ever a doubt about Faxon and Rash’s talent, they have squashed it. I can’t wait to see what they do next. Until then you should check out The Way Way Back!