Unicorn Store (2019)

I love Brie Larson so when I learnt that her directorial debut, Unicorn Store, was available on Netflix (by the way, fuck you Netflix for telling me about every single insignificant rom-com of yours but totally forgetting about notifying me about this, and thank you Film Twitter for making me realise it), I watched it immediately.

The story follows Kit (Brie Larson), a young woman who is ejected from art school and goes back in with her parents (Bradley Whitford and Joan Cusack). After dumping herself on the sofa watching TV, she decides to join a temp agency, takes up an office job and soon finds encouragement from Gary (Hamish Linklater), the company's vice president, to pitch a campaign for a vacuum cleaner. But then she gets an invitation to The Store where the salesman (Samuel L. Jackson) promises that not only unicorns exist but that she'll be able to have one of herself to love her forever if she lives up to a few demands. 

While it's arguably not your typical coming-of-age story, Unicorn Store is yet another movie dealing with themes of growing up, letting go of childhood and living in the real world. Unfortunately, it's all been done before and more effectively too. In addition, it often gets cheesy and overly positive and it's quite annoying, and the romantic subplot never really takes off. It does, however, a good job at portraying how young people feel about failure and it's quite relatable because of it. 

The characters aren't particularly captivating either. Kit is not your typical twenty-something who is afraid of growing up and facing the real world, she is an immature young woman obsessed with glitters, rainbows and unicorns. What bothered me about her is that we don't get to know enough of her story to understand why she is so immature and acts the way she does. Also, the way she goes from laying on the sofa all day long wearing basically kids clothes to getting a job and wearing grown-up clothes just seems unrealistic. As for the supporting characters, they don't have a lot of depth. 

Netflix

Despite the lacklustre script, every single member of the cast does a wonderful job. Brie Larson is just fantastic as naive dreamer Kit, a character that seems to fit her personality like a glove. She gives such a charming performance that radiates so much happiness and joy, it's a delight to watch her, and makes the character very likeable and lovable. Also, she yet again shows off her comedic skills. Samuel L. Jackson is obviously having a lot of fun as The Store owner which makes us have a lot of fun watching him. Joan Cusack and Bradley Whitford do a great job as Kit's parents. It's Mamoudou Athie though that steals the scene as Virgil, a new acquaintance of Kit's as well as about the only "normal" character in the film.

The visual aspect of Unicorn Store is quite interesting too. The film is indeed nicely shot, the shaky camera works well and so do the many close-ups, and it's very, very aesthetically pleasing with its bright pastel and wild colours.

MONSTER MARCH MADNESS 2019: Godzilla Wins!

The monster who battled hard and won the crown, becoming King of the Monsters, is none other than Godzilla himself. A fitting end to a Earth shattering monster mash-up. Thank everyone who voted for participating. Let's see what competition Slaughter Film can think up next year.

CONTINUE READING

The Fundamentals of Caring (2016)

Unlike the movies that I've been watching lately, The Fundamentals of Caring was not on my watchlist but I watched it anyway because I was in the mood for Paul Rudd and this was one of the Paul Rudd movies available on Netflix. 

The story follows Ben (Paul Rudd), a retired writer who is in need of a job and decides to become a caregiver. After completing a six-week course, he is hired by Elsa (Jennifer Ehle) to care for her sardonic and anxious 18-year-old son, Trevor (Craig Roberts), who has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. After a bumpy start, Ben and Trevor embark on a road trip to see American roadside attractions. Along the way, they pick up a foul-mouthed runaway, Dot (Selena Gomez), and a pregnant woman, Peaches (Megan Ferguson). 

The Fundamentals of Caring has pretty much the same plot every single road trip movie follows, it's filled with clichés, and it's rather predictable. Also, it kind of lacks obstacles, like every single thing goes as smoothly as it can possibly go. Still, it's interesting enough to keep you engaged and ultimately the story delivers an important message —it's only up to us to decide whether we want to live our life to its fullest or use excuses to change nothing about our lives, live the same day over and over, and remain stuck where we are. 

As for the main characters, there's something about them that quite didn't work with me. As I was expecting, both Ben and Trevor, especially the latter, are quite unlikeable characters at the beginning. Unfortunately, although they do have a nice development, they don't grow on you as much as you would expect them to. I liked, however, how The Fundamentals of Caring used them to poke fun at the clichés about disabled people in movies, and the chemistry between Paul Rudd and Craig Roberts is so genuine and touching, it's a real pleasure to watch them. Also, they both do a nice job in their roles, the first as a man who won't let go of his past, and the latter as a teenager who is afraid to leave his comfort zone and live life to its fullest.

Netflix

The female characters and performances, on the other hand, are bland to say the least. Neither Dot nor Peaches add to the plot —the first, despite the fact that she is the one kind of pushing Trevor out of his comfort zone (he has a crush on her and therefore does everything he thinks she thinks is cool), is nothing but a needless love interest; as for the latter, I'm still trying to figure out why she's there, maybe to make the skin of people who dislike babies and such crawl (yes, that's the reaction I have when I see babies). They are just shallow and unrealistic and don't seem to fit with the rest of the film. Also, Selena Gomez, while she does okay in the dramatic moments, has the worst comedic timing ever. And speaking of waste, the filmmakers thought it was cool to have Bobby Cannavale play a super minor role as Gomez's father.

Ultimately, The Fundamentals of Caring is not a terrible film but it's not even as good as it could have been. I mean, the script is quite a mess and other than Rudd, nobody seems to care to balance drama and comedy or be able to do both.

Blue Jay (2016)

After watching and really enjoying Paddleton, I decided to check out more from the Duplass brothers and Alex Lehmann. That's when I stumbled upon Blue Jay and, since it sounded interesting and the cast appealed me, I checked it out (more than a month later because I'm terrible at this). 

The film follows Jim (Mark Duplass) and Amanda (Sarah Paulson), two high school sweethearts who meet by chance for the first time in years when they both go back to their California hometown. They seem very awkward at first as they don't have much to say to each other, but once they get to talking, and decide to spend some time at Jim's old house, they fall back into the past as if nothing has changed between them.

The story is very simple, so simple there's barely a story and the chances of it being dull were pretty high. Fortunately, Blue Jay immediately generates our interest as it's clear from the beginning that Jim and Amanda share a troubled past, and keep us engaged for its entire running time as we wait for the secret to be unveiled. In addition, it shies away from the predictable, clichéd romantic territory I was expecting it to fall into, as it turns out to be a very realistic, everyday kind of drama.

It's the actors though that get the job done. First of all, Mark Duplass and Sarah Paulson have such strong, beautiful, magic chemistry that makes the relationship between Jim and Amanda incredibly genuine. Second, they both give great performances —Duplass he plays the role of Jim, a sensitive, normal guy, in such a natural way, Paulson plays the role of Amanda, a woman who is almost impossible to read, with so much tenderenss— and they both capture the playfulness and vulnerability of two people who used to mean the world for each other. And they are wonderful at improvising —Duplass is credited as the screenwriter but there wasn't an actual script, only a draft and he and Paulson did the rest.

The Orchard, Netflix

At last but not least there's Alex Lehmann's cinematography. It is simple and yet beautifully breathtaking, the black and white wonderfully conveys an atmosphere of nostalgia that complements incredibly well Jim and Amanda's past and present, each frame is perfect and shot in a way that it almost feels claustrophobic, as if you were stuck in the film with the characters, and enhances that feeling of intimacy that the actors bring to the screen.

The Matrix Movie Review

The Matrix (1999)

Rent The Matrix on Amazon Video
Written by: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers)
Directed by: Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers)
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Joe Pantoliano, Gloria Foster
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
Have you ever had a dream that you were so sure was real? What if you couldn't awaken? Computer hacker Neo dives into an underworld with a shocking truth. The life he knows is an elaborate deception.

Verdict
This is such an awesome movie. From the melding of sci-fi and action to the aesthetics and concepts. The movie has numerous iconic scenes from the dojo to the lobby, rooftop rescue, and the subway fight.
What is real? That's a question that pervades the movie and asks the audience to question their own perceptions. Real is just a feeling, something we tell ourselves.
You've probably seen this movie a few times, but there is a lot of foreshadowing. The movie follows the rule of cool, but in a construct that completely works. It's smart, the action is amazing, and it's still engaging.
Watch it.

Review
Being the 20th anniversary of when The Matrix first released in theaters, I felt compelled to watch it again. I still remember the first time i saw this movie on HBO one Saturday night long ago. I've seen it many times since then and the introduction is still amazing. You assume Trinity is a hacker, but we don't really know. Then she defies physics by leaping fifty feet across a rooftop. We don't know what's going on, but it's a great hook.

It's well made and that's clear just in the first few shots. It's a phenomenal movie. It's made for a rewatch as so much of this doesn't make sense the first time through. The movie slowly feeds you information. After you have a handle on the plot you begin to notice the foreshadowing. A lot of the dialog folds upon itself, setting up the threads soon to come.

We're as lost as Neo, but he's driven to find the answer. This has some big exposition segments, but it's uncovering a big world. What is the Matrix? That's a lingering question since the beginning and Laurence Fishburne does a great job with that monologue as Morpheus. The whole movie oozes cool. From sunglasses worn all the time to trench coats and guns. There's a lot of style. The casting is great and all of these characters have some kind of arc. None of them feel like filler, well except for Mouse, just a bit.
While there is a lot of the rule of cool, it completely works in this movie. It provides a built in excuse.

All of this is wrapped around the central question of, 'What is real?' The movie questions limitations and perceptions and that might be the coolest thing about this movie as it drops hints that our world could be a simulation. Why does everything taste like chicken? What is deja vu, really? It's inventive. As Agent Smith states, played tremendously by Hugo Weaving, humans are a virus. They exhaust resources and move on. Humans resist paradise. Smith is a computer program in the Matrix that polices the construct. His job is to capture the humans.

The movie is full of iconic scenes. When Neo first trains with Morpheus in the dojo, we're as excited as the crew. Part of what makes theses scenes have such an impact is the framing and composition. There is a level of detail throughout this movie and while of the editing and camera movements feels '90s, that's not an insult.

The movie revolves around Neo as he must forge his own path and discover his abilities. He can't just be told, he must figure it out. Morpheus believes Neo is special, and Neo just discovered the world is a wasteland. Robots use humans as an energy source. It's best not to think about how that would work too long, but it provides a great visual.

Morpheus sacrifices himself for Neo and Neo goes on a suicide mission to save him. "I believe I can bring him back." The rescue is a great sequence. It starts with the lobby shootout, and that music is awesome. I love all the music in this movie. We've been told Neo isn't the one, but his feats are incredible. No one has ever been able to take on an agent, and Neo does just that.He may not win the fight, but he's the first human to take on an agent and walk away.

The movie is just fun. This presents the coolest characters from clothes to cars and actions, and in so many movies that's not logical. Wearing sunglasses inside impedes your vision, but in this world none of that matters.

It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010)

It's Kind of a Funny Story is yet another of those movies I added on my watchlist and got stuck there for ages because there was always something more appealing to watch. Or something that I had meant to watch for even longer. 

Anyways, the story, which is based on Ned Vizzini's novel of the same name, follows Craig (Keir Gilchrist), a depressed 16-year-old who, after contemplating suicide by jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge, decides to check himself into the psychiatric ward of a hospital, thinking they'll keep an eye on him and send him home for school the next day. Getting out is not as easy as Craig pictured it though and, once in, his new psychiatric, Dr. Minerva (Viola Davis), forces him to stay for five days. During his stay, he quickly befriends Bobby (Zach Galifianakis), an optimistic adult, and Noelle (Emma Roberts), a sweet teenager. 

As any another movie about depressed teenagers I've seen, It's Kind of a Funny Story doesn't have much of a plot as it rather focuses on its characters and the interactions between them than events. In addition, it lacks originality and it's fairly predictable, but at least it delivers a good message about dealing with problems and seeking help when in need. 

The main characters —Craig, Bobby, and Noelle— could have been written better as most of the characterization and development comes from their quirks and, in Craig's case, from annoying, voiceover monologues; still, they are decent enough to make you care about them and root for them, and each of them grows throughout the film so I guess we can call that a win. Unfortunately, the supporting characters don't make a lot of sense, especially Craig's parents and sisters and Dr. Minerva, which is nothing but a way to waste a talented actress such as Viola Davis. 

As for the performances, Keir Gilchrist is barely decent as the teenager who is depressed simply because he is a teenager, and is overwhelmed by the too-serious world he lives in as he lacks the charisma and wit required for the role, and Emma Roberts is decent as Noelle, a character we know nothing about other than her having self-harm issues. Both because of these two weak performances and because he does a pretty good job, Zach Galifianakis steals the show as Bobby, a divorcé who is pessimistic about his past but very optimistic about his future. He brings so much humanity to the character and finds a nice balance between comedy and drama. 

Focus Features

As for the direction, I'm not sure Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck were the right people to make this film. The tone of It's Kind of a Funny Story is way lighter than Half Nelson's. While this is not a problem, the facts that most of the comedy here doesn't really work and that there isn't a balance between humour and drama are. Also, this kind of story feels too bland for them. 

Don't get me wrong, the film is still enjoyable, but it's not as good as it could have been, as good as Boden and Fleck could have made it. 

Thursday Movie Picks: Unrecognizable Actor Transformations

In this week's Thursday Movie Picks, the lovely weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves, we are talking about movies with great actor transformations, so great that the actor is unrecognizable. I was tempted to pick three Christian Bale films, but eventually I went with three great actresses (and films) instead. 

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) — Tilda Swinton as Madam D. 

It's 1985, a young approaches the grave of a writer and starts reading from the author's book. The author then begins narrating the tale about his trip to the Grand Budapest Hotel in 1968. There he met Zero Moustafa, the hotel's owner who starts telling him the story of how he took ownership of the hotel. 

The Hours (2002) - Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf

It follows Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) as she starts writing her book "Mrs. Dalloway" in 1923; Laura Brown (Julianne Moore), a pregnant housewife who is trying to throw a birthday party for her husband and worries about being an inadequate mother while reading Woolf's book in 1951; and Clarissa Vaughn (Meryl Streep), a publisher living in the present, who is throwing a party for her friend Richard, a famous author dying of AIDS.

Monster (2005)

It tells the story of Aileen Wuornos (Charlize Theron), a Daytona Beach prostitute who was convicted and eventually executed for killing six men.