The Skeleton Twins (2014)

4/5

The Skeleton Twins feels eminently indie, thanks to unique characters and astute writing. The movie follows two fraternal twins, Milo (Hader) and Maggie (Wiig), who reunite after Milo's failed suicide attempt. Maggie, married to Lance (Wilson), surreptitiously takes birth control pills while Lance fears he is infertile. Milo, now back in his hometown, starts talking to his old high school English teacher (Burrell), with whom he shared an intimate relationship at age 15.

The content is far from mainstream, and that may put people off, but this is a movie that delivers heart and humor in spades. The acting is incredible, delivering subtle details that reveal a wealth of history between the siblings. The way they bicker and forgive, the way they ruin and rebuild each other, feels so true to life. The movie is filled with ups and downs, drama and comedy, but is well worth the rollercoaster ride. I highly recommend this film.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1571249/

Henry Poole Is Here (2008)

3/5

Henry Poole Is Here looked so promising from the trailers. The plot follows Henry Poole (Wilson) after he moves into an old bungalow in LA. There's something odd about him. He wants to pay the full asking price, without any negotiations. He does not want it to be re-stuccoed, as he repeatedly states that he will not be staying there long anyway. He keeps his eye on another house across the street, his first choice for where he wanted to live. He buys large amounts of liquor on a daily basis, just for himself, at the same grocery store with the same cashier (Hines). When his neighbor Esperanza (Barraza) sees an image of Christ on his wall, he writes it off as a stain. She brings her pastor (Lopez) and the rest of her congregation to his house to see the miracle, but he gets so frustrated with all the attention that he tries to remove it with a high-pressure water spray. That only makes it more visible. His other neighbor Dawn (Mitchell) witnesses the events and her daughter Millie (Lily) starts recording him from across the fence.

Onto more technical aspects. The cinematography and editing were well-done, although very "indie" in its artsy compositions and lingering scenes. The acting was appropriate, but nobody really stood out. All the pieces are in place for a quirky independent dramedy, but the movie plays much more slowly and predictably than I assumed it would. I wanted something that would speak to all faiths and beliefs, something that would let anybody take what they wanted from the movie. But it's hard to argue when a blind person sees, a mute person talks, and a dying person lives. It just felt a bit heavy-handed with respect to faith and miracles. I guess my big issue with this movie is that it was not as good as I was expecting it to be. I gave it too much credit. Feel free to watch it if the trailer or the plot interested you, but don't get your hopes up too high.

Note: I had about 60-70% of a bottle of wine over the course of this 90 minute movie, which I started watching at 11:30pm, so I was a little tired and inebriated. Still, I stand by my rating within 0.5 stars.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1029120/

Vacancy (2007)

4/5

Vacancy is a terrifying horror thriller that threatens two characters we quickly come to care about and builds tension in measured, metered doses. The plot follows David (Wilson) and Amy (Beckinsale) as a couple whose marriage is on the verge of dissolution. Their car breaks down and they're forced to stop at a cheap motel. The desk clerk (Whaley) offers them the less-than-romantic honeymoon suite at a discount. Cockroaches line the bathroom walls, brown water shoots out of the faucet, and cable doesn't work. Luckily, there are a few VHS tapes they can watch. To their horror, they quickly discover that they're watching snuff films of murders that take place in that very motel. And David and Amy are going to be the next victims.

Vacancy is a calculated movie that paces itself expertly starting from the intro credit sequence, where they use typography and music in the same vein as Hitchcock to get your heart racing, to the final shot of the film. Small camera moves, such as lingering on an empty room, add immensely to the anxiety. The cinematography is pristine and crisp, evoking the harsh lighting of film noir for its own nefarious purposes. The director makes you feel claustrophobic and trapped for just the right amount of time before letting you breathe. And when he does, he lets you catch your breath just long enough before you unconsciously hold it in again. This movie is a taut thriller that should serve as an example of how to build suspense. It's not the most original movie, and there are a few scenes that work only if you suspend your disbelief, but this movie had me scared from beginning to end. I highly recommend it.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0452702/

The Family Stone (2005)

3/5

The Family Stone is a bit of an awkward family drama/romantic comedy combination. The plot follows Everett (Mulroney) as he comes back home for Christmas to introduce his new girlfriend Meredith (Parker) to his family and to ask his mother (Keaton) for the family wedding ring so he can propose to her. His youngest sister Amy (McAdams) already hates her for reasons that are unknown to me--and presumably everyone else watching the movie--and plays mean tricks on her so the rest of the family will share in her distaste. Everett's brother Ben (Wilson) feels bad for her and tries comforting her, but she feels so harassed that she invites her sister Julie (Danes) to join her. When Everett picks Julie up from the bus station, he falls head over heels for her. There are a few more family members and plot points that I'll let you discover firsthand if you choose to watch this, but that's the basic framework.

Despite the few comedic moments in the trailer, I didn't find the movie as a whole to be very funny. It also wasn't very uplifting or feel-good. A lot of what happened just seemed outright mean and/or depressing. Throughout the movie I felt like it was all a big inside joke that I didn't get, but in the end all was explained satisfactorily with subtle hints instead of over-the-top verbalizations. And the final shot was terrifically bittersweet. All the technical aspects were competent, but nothing truly impressed me. All in all, see the movie if you liked the trailer or the actors, but I don't think this movie is the one to change your mind about the genre.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0356680/

You Kill Me (2007)

2/5

You Kill Me is supposed to be a dark comedy, but it's more of an indie dramedy full of lingering camera shots, deadpan dialogue, and quirky characters. Ben Kingsley plays an alcoholic hitman who is sent to San Francisco by his mafia uncle (Philip Baker Hall) to go to Alcoholics Anonymous. Luke Wilson becomes his gay AA sponsor, Bill Pullman becomes his temporary West Coast realtor, and Tea Leoni becomes his 20-years younger love interest. I suppose the premise is smirk-worthy, but not laugh-out-loud hilarious. None of this movie really made laughter emanate from my belly uncontrollably, although at times I thought to myself, "That's pretty clever."

The best aspect of this movie was how perfectly it depicted the pain of Alcoholics Anonymous. It felt like church for atheists; everyone telling you you're wrong, and being overly friendly and superficial about it. Additionally, the performances were quite good. I'm not quite sure how strong their characters were, because they felt quite dull and uninteresting except for the aforementioned character traits. All in all, it wasn't particularly funny or memorable. Don't bother checking this film out unless you really really really really like the actors. Or you really hate AA.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0796375/

Idiocracy (2006)

2/5

Idiocracy is a stupid and terrible movie. I don't know how I convinced myself to watch it. It envisions the future as literally the dumbest time period of man's evolution ever. And it succeeds. The story was predictable, the characters shallow, and the humor, unfortunately, at the level of the citizens in this "idiocracy." Why would I laugh at that? Despite the movie being terrible, I did like the vision of the future, where advertising is everywhere and stupid people who reproduce more take over the world. It's a much smarter premise than the movie can deliver on. Please don't ever watch this movie. Kyle, you are wrong. It is not funny--it is awful.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0387808/

3:10 to Yuma (2007)

4/5

3:10 to Yuma is one of the most interesting westerns to come out since Unforgiven. It follows the story of rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale) as he escorts the notorious outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) to a prison train, the 3:10 to Yuma. The cast was well-picked and the acting by Crowe and Bale was nearly flawless (and I traditionally do not appreciate their acting). The storyline entranced me from beginning to end. I kept trying to figure out what would happen and kept finding myself unexpectedly surprised. I loved how nearly every character got introduced and eliminated in measured amounts--very fitting of the genre. The character evolution of everyone except Ben Wade was mesmerizing. The landscapes were beautifully shot, the editing perfectly well-paced. And 3:10 to Yuma has an absolutely amazing score.

I really disliked the character of Ben Wade. Everyone else was really interesting and fascinating, but Ben Wade was just disappointing. I got really excited as the film progressed, because it seemed as if he was actually getting more and more evil. What most movies that try to humanize bad guys do is show his evil side first and then his human side at the end. This movie started out by flipping that, slowly increasing his brutality as time went on, but in the end it flipped back to his sympathetic side. Didn't really like that. Also, it kind of went crazy at the end and I didn't buy the shift in Wade's character. It felt like he did stuff out of character to fit the plot. How disappointing in an otherwise stellar movie. I highly recommend it though if you like westerns, because maybe you will take a different message out of the character of Ben Wade.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0381849/

Blue Streak (1999)

3/5

Blue Streak follows Martin Lawrence as a bank robber who hides a diamond in the vent of a building under construction during his failed escape attempt. Two years later, he's released from prison and finds out that the building has become a police station, and therefore must pose as a cop to infiltrate the building and recover his loot. It's a very entertaining action comedy heist movie, meaning good but mindless fun. It has problems, as expected for this genre, such as corny dialogue, bad acting, and unrealistic plot developments. The music is often overbearing and there are continuity errors. Despite its silliness, I actually found myself laughing during a lot of this movie. You probably won't turn this movie off if you find it on TV, as I refrained from doing when I myself found it on TV, but I don't think there's much reason to go out and rent it unless you're a huge Martin Lawrence fan.

Disclaimer: I saw this on network TV, so it was edited for content and length.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0181316/