Annie (5/10): Uninspired musical, but entertaining thanks to Wallis and Byrne's performance

“It’s the hard-knock life for us.”

I have very fond memories from my childhood of watching John Huston’s musical, Annie, and singing along to the lyrics of “Tomorrow” and “It’s the Hard-Knock Life”. It was one of the films I rewatched the most as a child along with The Goonies and the Disney cartoons. So despite hearing some negative reviews, I still was excited about getting to watch the Annie remake for nostalgic reasons. One of my favorite films of 2012 was Beasts of the Southern Wild, so my expectations were even higher when I heard Quvenzhane Wallis was going to play Annie. Wallis is a force to reckon with and the perfect choice for Annie. This remake (which actually turned out to be more of a modern re-imagining) was directed by Will Gluck, whose latest films (Easy A, Friends with Benefits) I actually enjoyed. So all these elements combined, drew me into wanting to see it despite the very negative word of mouth. My expectations weren’t matched of course because Annie turned out to be a very flawed film, but I didn’t hate this musical either. Wallis’s performance was strong enough to keep me engaged with the story despite all the cheesy dialogues. The biggest disappointment for me however, were the musicals which felt too produced and at times those scenes felt more like a music video clip from MTV than anything else. The story is cliche and familiar, but at the same time it remains family friendly and it has a few emotional moments thrown in as well. For a flawed film, I found myself enjoying it quite a bit, but that was probably due to the nostalgic factor and my love for Wallis. 

The cast of Annie is pretty solid, although there were some performances that didn’t work at all. Cameron Diaz is miscast in the film, playing Miss Hannigan, the guardian of the orphan girls. She goes completely over the top and got on my nerves almost in every scene she was in. She is a great actress, but this sort of cartoonish role which she’s played many times in the past, never works for her. I find her obnoxious every time she plays these exaggerated parts. The same could be said about Bobby Cannavale who never sells his role. I know that the weak screenplay was responsible for this, but the rest of the cast didn’t turn out that bad. David Mayas, Adele Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Jamie Foxx are solid, but the standouts in this film were Wallis and Rose Byrne. They both bring a unique sweetness and charm to their role necessary for a musical like this. Byrne is a talented actress, and she is one of the best things about Annie. Unfortunately, the music never works and the screenplay is uninspired, but I still found most of the film entertaining and tolerable. I’ve seen a lot worse this year.

My Review: The Other Woman (3/10)

"We got played by the same guy... do you want vodka or tequila?"

We got played once again with another familiar and cliched romantic comedy with uninspired performances, weak direction, and poor writing. I guess Leslie Mann could have used some help from her husband, Judd Apatow, because the material she had to work with here was completely unfunny, or at least she should have asked him for advice before accepting to make this film. I'm sure she had a lot of fun making this, but I wish we could have at least had half the fun watching this as she did making it. She was really annoying, especially during the first half hour, and it's a shame because she is an extremely funny actress. I've seen Cameron Diaz playing similar roles before (for example in The Sweetest Thing which this film reminded me a lot of) so I wasn't as surprised with how uninspiring her performance was. Kate Upton looked great, but that is all she had to offer in a film where she felt completely lost playing alongside Diaz and Mann. As for Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, well he is much better as a Lannister. I really can't blame the actors because the material they had to work with was too cliche and their characters completely one dimensional. They were all stereotypes and their was no personality whatsoever to this comedy. The jokes are all recycled and there are very few funny moments. I wasn't expecting much from this film really, but I didn't think it would be as bad as it was.

The Other Woman (or should I say, The Other Women) lacks substance and the funniest scenes for me were the ones borrowed from other comedies I'd seen in the past. I don't know why Hollywood producers think poop and vomit jokes need to be included in all comedies, but it needs to stop because they are not funny anymore. I'm all up for female empowerment, but this isn't really the way to go. This is easily one of the worst movies of the year and I should have avoided it. We have several contenders here for the Razzies and I forgot to mention how bad Nicki Minaj was in her supporting role here. 

My Review: The Counselor (6/10)

"I'm pretty skeptical about the goodness of the good."

The Counselor is without a doubt one of the most divisive films of the year. It has received a lot of hatred, but at the same time some people absolutely loved it. I understand why this film has caused such a reaction because it doesn't follow your normal narrative structure and is heavy on the philosophical dialogues. I've liked most of Ridley Scott's films, I was one of the few who actually loved Prometheus, and I also think that Cormac McCarthy is a great novelist (No Country for Old Men being his masterpiece) so when I heard the two were going to work together I couldn't help but add this to my watchlist. My expectations took a blow when I read all the early reviews and so I went into this expecting a complete flaw. To my surprise it wasn't as bad as I was lead to believe (I can think of at least 50 films I've seen this year that are far worse) and I ended up slightly enjoying this. Despite its heavy loaded philosophical dialogues and lack of characterization, there are some great scenes in The Counselor and some great performances. This film easily has one of the most memorable murder scenes I've seen all year, but at the same time it has many scenes that really felt out of place (like the scene involving Cameron Diaz and the yellow Ferrari). The Counselor feels more like a McCarthy film than a Ridley Scott movie, and his dark humor and anti climatic scenes are all over the place here in this suspenseful thriller (if I can really call it that because it isn't really generic at all). The Counselor isn't an easy watch and at times it feels too preachy, but it kept my interest nonetheless. McCarthy's message about facing the consequences of your sins was loud and clear in The Counselor. 

The plot is pretty simple actually as the film focuses more on the dialogues than the actual events. Michael Fassbender plays a successful lawyer who is known simply as the Counselor. He falls deeply in love with Laura (Penelope Cruz), a girl of simple tastes, but in order to give her a dreamy life the Counselor decides to enter a one time deal involving drug trafficking. His business associate, the wealthy Reiner (Javier Bardem) who spends most of his time drinking expensive whisky in the mornings and watching his pet cheetahs hunt down rabbits, warns him about the dangers involved in this deal. Reiner has been in this business for a long time and knows how the cartel works, but the Counselor decides to team up with him nonetheless. Reiner's girlfriend, Malkina (Cameron Diaz), is a very smart woman who is kind of shady as Reiner never knows what she is up to. The middle man involved in the transaction between the cartel and Reiner is Westray (Brad Pitt) who also warns the Counselor about the world he's getting himself into. The deal is an apparently simple one as the cartel uses Reiner's trucks to carry the drugs to Chicago, but an unfortunate accident puts everyone's life in danger.

The Counselor, who ironically in this film is always receiving advice from everyone, learns that greed isn't a good thing. The film focuses on greed and evil, but there is way too much talking at times which makes it feel too preachy at times. I think that much of the criticism this film is receiving has to do with the high expectations that people had about it considering the talented cast and crew involved int his film. Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, and Brad Pitt actually lift this film in my opinion and make their characters bearable to watch on screen. These characters aren't people we would care for in any other film, but the actors make it tolerable. I especially liked Fassbender in this film and I think he gives yet another powerful performance. The weakest link here was Cameron Diaz who never felt natural in my opinion, but that perhaps was part of McCarthy's plan. She isn't as strong as Bardem was in No Country for Old Men, but she kind of plays that same character that McCarthy tends to include in his novels. This is the first time that McCarthy writes an original screenplay since the other films were based on his novels, and this is definitely more his film than Scott's. If you are a fan of his work than you will probably like this film more than other people. I think one of the key McCarthy moments can be seen through Ruben Blades's monologue about how our decisions ultimately set our fate. There are just too many memorable scenes in this film for me not to give it a passing grade. The Counselor isn't an easy watch, but if you go into it with your expectations lowered you might actually be in for a surprise.

My Review: What to Expect When You`re Expecting (4/10)

¨I just wanted the glow. The one that they promise you on the cover of those magazines. Well, I'm calling it - pregnancy sucks. Making a human being is really hard.¨

What we can really expect from this movie is pretty much the same thing we got from Valentine`s Day and New Year`s Eve: A lot of celebrities but no real characters. It is the exact same issue I had with the other films, except this is perhaps even worse with everything fitting perfectly together at the end. This is a chick flick and perhaps many will disagree with me for saying this but What to Expect When You`re Expecting is one of the worst movies of the year. The film is based on a very successful series of pregnancy guides written by Heidi Murkoff, which I haven`t read but am pretty sure has to be much better than the screenplay that Shauna Cross (Whip It) and Heather Hach (Freaky Friday) came up with. I can`t imagine the book being like this because it`s really incoherent and unauthentic. There is no honesty whatsoever in the film and it felt sugarcoated with all the celebrities. Director Kirk Jones (Nanny McPhee and Everybody`s Fine) fails miserably in trying to portray a believable film. He follows the exact same clichés and formulas we see in almost every other chick flick. There is no originality whatsoever to this tale and by the end of the year even the people who enjoyed will have forgotten all about it. The film is all about pretty faces, unfunny dialogues, and relationships that aren't given enough screen time to develop. That is why I found it difficult to find believable chemistry between any of the five couples that the film was about. This film was a total waste of time and I can´t find anything positive to say about it. It makes Valentine`s Day and New Year`s Eve look like Oscar worthy contenders.

The story deals with five different couples which in some minor way interact or overlap with each other. First off we have celebrity fitness expert Jules (Cameron Diaz) who has fallen for her dance partner Evan (Matthew Morrison) in the Celebrity Dance Reality Show she`s participating on. Then there`s photographer Holly (Jennifer Lopez) and her hubby Alex (Rodrigo Santoro) who can`t have children and have decided to adopt. Wendy (Elizabeth Banks) is a baby-crazy writer who thinks she knows everything about motherhood but has had trouble trying to get pregnant along with her husband Gary (Ben Falcone). Gary`s father, Ramsey (Dennis Quaid), a former Nascar racer has remarried the beautiful and young Skyler (Brooklyn Decker). When Wendy and Gary discover that they were finally able to get pregnant they go to tell the news to Ramsey and Skyler who also surprise them with the news that they too are expecting. By this time Jules and Evan have already found out that they too are expecting a child, and Jules is trying to work around her busy TV schedule. If this seems a lot to take in, wait there is still more: Rosie (Anna Kendrick) shares a romantic night with a former High School classmate, Marco (Chace Crawford) and ends up pregnant as well. This is where the drama unfolds as we have each couple dealing with pregnancy in different ways. Alex who doesn’t feel prepared to be a father is sent by Holly to meet with a dad`s support group organized by Vic (Chris Rock). The support group is supposed to be the funniest thing about the film, but in my opinion none of the jokes worked really well.

There is not much more I can add about this movie, there was so much going on that it was hard to find any chemistry between any of these couples. They all played one dimensional and stereotypical characters. I don’t think I can say I had a favorite performance here because it all felt bland and fake. The ending is horrible, but I guess most couples were satisfied with this date movie. It has no other value to it, only enjoyable for a couple`s date night or a girls night out.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com

My Review: Bad Teacher (2/10)

¨She doesn`t give an ´F`¨

I don`t know what is worse: Cameron Diaz`s character as a teacher, or the movie itself. This is really a very bad movie, terrible. It`s supposed to be a comedy, but it really doesn’t have many funny moments. Yes there is a couple here and there, but in a 95 minute long movie you expect much more laughs. This raunchy comedy had a whole lot of raunchy, but no comedy whatsoever. I really hated this film, and expected a lot more from Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, and Jason Segel who have done much better movies in the past. I can`t blame it on them because the script they were given was really poor, but then I ask myself why would these actors want to be in a movie with a script as bad as this one. This isn’t the first time that Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg fail as screenwriters in a comedy. These are the same guys that were responsible for the Year One fiasco starring Jack Black and Michael Cera. Director Jake Kasdan, however, has done far better in the past with funny films like Walk Hard and Orange County. Bad Teacher was a huge misstep for him, and for everyone else who was involved in this project. This could very well be the worse film of the year in my opinion. Cameron Diaz might not give an F, but I definitely will give this film an F for being the disaster it was.

Elizabeth Halsey (Cameron Diaz) is not your typical High School teacher; she`s not interested in her students, she smokes pot before class, and she tries to avoid teaching as much as possible. The only reason she became a teacher was because of the long summer vacations. This is her last year at the school anyway because she is getting married to her wealthy boyfriend and can now enjoy life. The only problem is that her mother-in-law points out how she is only interested in his money so he leaves her with no wedding. This means Elizabeth will have to teach yet another year until she can find a wealthy man to marry. She becomes interested in the new substitute teacher who seems to come from a wealthy family, Scott (Justin Timberlake), but he has just broken up with his long term girlfriend and doesn’t feel ready for a relationship yet. Elizabeth has a rival: it`s another fellow teacher named Amy (Lucy Punch) who seems to get along really well with Scott. Amy also seems to point out Elizabeth`s method of teaching and tries to get her more involved with the kids. Russell (Jason Segel) is the gym teacher who has always had a thing for Elizabeth, but she never pays attention to him because he doesn’t have any money. Elizabeth is more interested in winning over Scott`s affection (and his money) so that she can get away from school as soon as possible. She will do whatever it takes to do this even if it revolves on getting her breasts done in order to get his attention.

The movie really doesn’t know where to head. At the beginning Cameron Diaz`s character is so hateful but later out of nowhere she begins to have a conscious and is nice all of a sudden. On the other hand Lucy Punch`s character seems so nice at first, but then turns up being mean. It`s like they switched characters so the movie could find a decent ending. These changes in character can`t happen all of a sudden without explanation. The movie is full of stereotypes and it completely fails as a comedy. It is too bad because Jason Segel, Cameron Diaz, and Justin Timberlake have proven they have great talent, but none of them are able to stand out and save this movie. Timberlake`s character is perhaps the worst of all. I had no idea where the director was trying to go with his character. Diaz is just way too mean to be likeable. Segel on the other hand is perhaps the most decent character in the movie but he really has no screen time and it’s hard to see how he could fall for someone like Diaz. This is really one of the worst films I`ve seen all year, and can`t remember any funny moments in the movie. I was expecting a lot more from the cast and found the 95 minute movie way too long. It`s hard to like a movie when you are supposed to root for a highly unlikeable character such as Elizabeth Halsey. I could care less what happens to her.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/  

My Review: Knight and Day (5/10)

¨They'll tell you I'm mentally unstable and violent and dangerous and it will all sound very convincing. ¨

That is probably the best way to describe Tom Cruise`s character in this movie, which is also unstable in trying to be an action thriller, comedy, and romantic flick all at the same time. Knight and Day mostly succeeds as a comedy because of the performance from Cruise and Diaz, but as an action thriller it is pretty ridiculous, and the romance isn`t all that believable. The action relies too heavily on poor CGI effects; the story is poorly developed and has too many plot holes.  However, Cruise does give a comedic performance and his character is very likeable so if you go into this movie expecting a satire of Mission Impossible then you might just enjoy Knight and Day, but don`t expect a smart thriller with great action sequences because you will leave the theater disappointed. Mr. and Mrs. Smith began this trend of genre films that combine spy thrillers with comedy and romance, but it has gone downhill from that point. James Mangold has taken a huge step backwards with this movie after directing such great films as the 3:10 To Yuma remake and the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, and Patrick O`Neill`s debut as a screenwriter didn`t begin very promising either, but you can`t blame him only because the script was rewritten by at least 5 other people, including Mangold himself.

I don`t want to give too much of the plot away because the most intriguing part of the movie is wondering who Roy Miller (played by Tom Cruise) really is. You wonder if he is a good guy or a bad guy for the first minutes and that is probably one of the best things about Knight and Day. He really gives a good performance and is very funny on screen. He seems a little paranoid, but at the same time he looks relaxed and cool. At the beginning of the film Roy runs into June Havens (Cameron Diaz) in the airport before getting into the plane and uses her without her knowledge to get across customs. June is a mechanic who enjoys restoring classic sport cars and happens to be buying pieces for the vehicle she is assembling to give to her sister as a wedding present. Roy and June share the same flight and seem to click immediately, but everyone else in the plane seems to be trying to kill Roy (including the flight attendants and pilots). Fitzgerald (Peter Sarsgaard from An education) is a CIA agent that is also trying to kill Roy who apparently has something valuable that everyone wants. Even an arms dealer named Antonio (Jordi Molla) is after Roy. June gets involved in all the mess and together with Roy end up all over the States, Jamaica, Austria, and Spain running for their lives. Paul Dano also has a supporting role as a nerdy scientist named Simon Feck that Roy is also trying to protect.

The plot is a bit ridiculous and the action is unfulfilling, but there is enough comedy thanks to Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz who are two likeable actors who pull off decent performances although they are far from their best work. They`ve worked together in the past in Vanilla Sky, which is a clear reminder of how much better they can be, but in Knight and Day the issue wasn`t their performance, it was the material. Mangold has also proven he can do much better and maybe next time he will stick to more serious material. I´m not saying this movie was terrible or a complete waste of time, but it is far from being a good film. It will satisfy those in need of some good laughs, but this isn`t a movie you will want to watch over and over again because the more you think about the plot the more ridiculous you realize it becomes. This is an average film which could be enjoyed if taken lightly and viewed one time only. Cruise fans will definitely enjoy his performance. Not a good movie, but not terrible either.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/

My Review: The Box (2/10)

¨Your home is a box. Your car is a box on wheels. You drive to work with it. You drive home with it. You sit in your home, staring into a box. It erodes your sole, while the box that is your body inevitably withers... then dies. Where upon it is placed in the ultimate box, to slowly decompose.¨

(2/10) The Box had a pretty interesting premise: A mysterious man comes to a home and offers a family an opportunity of a lifetime. He gives them a box that has a button on it and tells them that if they push the button two things will happen. First they will receive a million dollars, and second somebody they don`t know will die. So in a way the entire movie focused on this Shakespearean dilemma: To push or not to push the button, that is the question. Richard Kelly, better known for directing the cult movie Donnie Darko and then later on the less successful Southland Tales, directs this movie based on Richard Matheson`s short story entitled ¨Button, Button.¨ I was expecting a lot more from this sci-fi mystery movie, but The Box drags during almost the entire two hours. The characters are just not that interesting and we actually don`t care about them. There are several weird characters and a lot of questions that the movie raises and then fails to answer. When The Box finally ended I felt that there had been so many things unsaid and way too many unnecessary elements introduced in the movie. The dialogue was horrible as well and there were very few rescuable moments in the entire film (one being Frank Langella). In order for a mystery film to be successful some of the questions raised during the movie should have to be answered, and in The Box this wasn`t the case.

The movie begins with a ring at the door of the Lewis family. Norma (played by Cameron Diaz with a sort of southern accent) opens the door and finds a box lying on the floor with a note saying it is from Arlington Steward. She shows the box to her husband, Arthur (played by James Marsden from Enchanted) and neither of them have any idea who the man is. The movie moves on and we follow each of these characters to their jobs. Norma is a school teacher who has a problem with her foot as she only has one toe due to an incident she suffered years ago. In one of the weirdest scenes of the movie one of the students asks her to show them her foot and she agreeingly does so. From this point on I was a bit disappointed with how the story was developing. The movie lost me when Cameron Diaz`s character decided to show off her foot to the entire class room. Norma ends up losing her job because they are reducing some of the classes for the next semester. Arthur on the other hand works for NASA and he is a well known scientist, but something goes wrong with his psychological test and he isn´t allowed to travel. From this point on it is obvious that the Lewis`s are being played and forced into a position in which they will have to push the button. After these strange things occur, Arlington (Frank Langella from Frost/Nixon) visits Norma and explains to her the consequences of pushing the button. He has a strange appearance since he is missing part of his face (his appearance is the closest thing I have seen to Harvey Dent when he turns into Two Face in the Dark Knight). The reason Arlington is missing part of his face is because he was hit by lightning and declared dead for a couple of hours before waking up at the morgue. What happened to him continues to be a mystery. The plot continues from this point on dealing with the box and the consequences their actions might bring.

Richard Kelly does try to make interesting and original films; no one can argue that his movies are different from most mainstream Hollywood films. However being original is one thing and being entertaining is another and The Box isn`t entertaining at all. The movie leaves too many questions unanswered that it shouldn´t have even risen in the first place if they were not going to tackle them later on. Who was Arlington working for? Was he simply a messenger like he said he was? Who were his employees actually and where did they come from? I just found many of the mysteries the movie had to be pointless. All I can say is that Arlington will not have to worry about us spending all our time staring at a box if more movies like this one continue to come out. I think the highlight of the movie was Frank Langella`s performance, but that was about the only positive thing about The Box. I would definitely recommend people to skip this movie.