My Review: Fright Night (6/10)

¨Hey, guy. You've been watching me. I've been watching you.¨

Fright Night is a remake of the 1985 cult classic film of the same name which was written and directed by Tom Holland (known for several 80`s and 90`s horror flicks including Child`s Play and the TV series Tales from the Crypt). Some people don`t like the fact that these classic movies are being remade, but if done well it can work because a new generation that would`ve probably never seen the original can now be familiar with it. Director Craig Gillespie does a great job at adapting the story and bringing it to the big screen once again. He makes a few touches here and there, but the main idea is still there and there is even a cameo from Chris Sarandon (the actor that played the vampire in the first movie). Some of the most memorable lines from the original movie are also included here. Gillespie takes an entirely different approach than he did with his first film, Lars and the Real Girl, but he makes a decent horror/comedy film which stays true to the original so I think fans of that movie won`t be disappointed with this. Fright Night is much better than most horror films we`ve seen lately, although there isn`t as much scares as there are funny moments. The film is lifted by some strong performances from Colin Farrell, Toni Collette, David Tennant, Anton Yelchin, and Imogen Poots. The other positive thing about Fright Night is that Buffy the Vampire Slayer writer, Marti Noxon, was involved in the adaptation of the screenplay which is pretty slick and funny.

Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) is probably having the best year of his life. He seems to have been accepted with the cool group of his High School and is dating one of the hottest girls in school, Amy (Imogen Poots). Charley is having a great time with his new friends and tries to ignore his old geek buddy Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) as much as he can, but Ed is worried about some mysterious disappearances in the Las Vegas neighborhood and tells Charley that his new neighbor, Jerry (Colin Farrell) is a vampire. Ed has been spying on Jerry and has discovered his secret, but Charley doesn`t believe him at first until he sees things on his own. Charley warns his mother, Jane (Toni Collette), not to trust Jerry and under any circumstance invite him into the house, but Jane thinks he is just being a jealous son and ignores him at first. Jerry realizes that Charley is on to him and threatens him and his girlfriend. Charley decides it`s time to face Jerry and end his 400 year life. In order to do so he enlists the help of Peter Vincent (David Tennant), a Vegas performer who claims to be a Vampire slayer, but of course this is all just a gimmick. Vincent believes Charley is crazy at first, but he soon will find out the truth about Jerry, and discover some things about his own past.

Beside the fact that Colin Farrell delivers a perfect performance as Jerry the vampire, the other thing that Fright Night has going for it is that it has a clever and funny script. There are few scares; the movie knows it works best as a comedy in the same way that Zombieland had success making fun of its zombies. This time the jokes are about vampires and of course all the legends about the crucifixes, the stakes to the heart, and the need to ask for permission to enter a house aren`t ignored here. This last element taken from the very successful vampire Swedish film Let the Right One In (which in my humble opinion is the best vampire film ever). It also manages to make fun of Twilight whenever given the chance claiming that vampires aren`t sentimental and even makes references to that movie. Colin Farrell is the star of the film, but the rest of the actors also did a great job. Anton Yelchin is a good actor and he nails his role with his charming innocence. Toni Collette looks great playing her mother, and Imogen Poots is much more than the typical dumb blonde. Christopher Mintz-Plasse and David Tennant are responsible for most of the laughs of the film and the funny moments. The movie is well made, it`s clever, entertaining, I just wish it would`ve been scarier. The effects are pretty well done and there`s also plenty of blood for gore fans. Despite everything the movie has going for it, I don`t think I would`ve enjoyed it as much if it weren’t for Colin Farrell. He lifts this movie and makes it worth seeing. Fright Night isn`t a great movie, but it`s worth a watch.

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My Review: Horrible Bosses (8/10)

¨You can't win a marathon without putting some band aids on your nipples! ¨

I`ve been on a hot streak recently with comedies; this is the third one in a row that I`ve found really funny. The laughs began with Bridesmaids, then came Cedar Rapids, and now Horrible Bosses; another hilarious comedy that perhaps is a little more mainstream than the others and has more stereotypical characters, but it is saved by the wonderful cast who really got a lot of laughs off me. Sometimes it can be hilarious to make fun of some of these stereotypes, especially when we are dealing with bosses. The characters aren`t deep or anything, they are more of caricatures than normal people, but that is ok because when a comedy is done right it totally works. The plot of the story isn’t new either; we`ve seen it before in other movies and the film even mentions them. So why did I have such a fun time with this film? The cast was brilliant! We got to see Jennifer Aniston in a role that I never thought she would do; she says things you`d never think would come out of her mouth. Then you have the rest of the cast all delivering several laughs. Sometimes the actors have such a great chemistry together that the movie just clicks and you find all the situations funny. It`s like when you hear a joke that isn`t that funny, but the person who tells it does it in such a great way that you just can`t stop laughing. The cast makes this R-rated comedy worth it and I had a great time with Horrible Bosses.

The premise of the story is pretty simple: it`s about three friends who hate their bosses (extremely horrible ones) and begin talking about how they wish they would die. They can`t just quit their jobs because they run into an old schoolmate of theirs who shows them how difficult it is to get a job during the recession. Their only option seems to be to kill their bosses. Nick Hendricks (Jason Bateman) works for Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey) at an important business company. Nick has worked really hard the last few months in order to get the promotion he has been expecting for a long time. Dave however gets upset because Nick happened to show up two minutes late one day to work and doesn’t give him the promotion he rightfully deserves, and goes as far as blackmailing him so he won`t quit either. Dale (Charlie Day) works as a dental assistant for Dr. Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston) who sexually harasses him and claims she will tell Dale`s fiancé that they`ve had sex if he doesn’t sleep with her. Dale can’t get a job anywhere else because he`s been mistakenly charged with a child sex offence for peeing in a park near to a school. Kurt Buckman (Jason Sudeikis) on the other hand loves his job and his boss Jack Pellit (Donald Sutherland), but unfortunately he suffers a heart attack and passes away, leaving the company in his coke addict son`s hands: Bobby (Colin Farrell). He wants to cuts expenses and tells Kurt that he must fire all the obese and disabled employers. Kurt, Dale, and Nick get together and decide the only solution to their problems is murdering each other`s boss.

Horrible Bosses is extremely funny, despite the strong language. It has memorable performances from Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey, and Colin Farrell in roles we are not used to seeing them in. Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, and Jason Bateman are extremely funny in every scene they are together in; their chemistry was just great. The situations these guys got themselves into was hilarious; beginning from trying to hire a hitman online (with a really funny cameo from Ioan Gruffudd), to getting criminal advice from an ex-con named Dean MF Jones (played by Jamie Foxx), ending up breaking into Bobby`s house and accidently sniffing some of his cocaine. Charlie Day also gets some laughs while lip singing to The Ting Tings ¨That`s Not My Name¨ while staking Dave`s house. I had a really great time during the entire movie, and there are just too many memorable scenes to point them all out. All I can say is that you should go check out this movie if you ever felt like you had it bad with your boss. I guarantee you won`t complain anymore after seeing what these guys had to put up with. Seth Gordon did a great job with the direction of this film and I highly recommend it if you`re in the mood for laughing.

  

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My Review: Crazy Heart (8/10)

¨Pick up your crazy heart and give it one more try…Whiskey has been a thorn on your side and it doesn`t forget the highway that calls for your heart inside. And this ain`t no place for the weary kind.¨

(8/10) Those lyrics are from The Weary Kind, the theme song of the film Crazy Heart, which was composed by T Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham. The song has been nominated for the Oscars and in my opinion it has a good chance of winning. But who really has the biggest chance of taking an award for this movie is Jeff Bridges for his performance as a washed up country singer known as Bad Blake. Last year Mickey Rourke showed us some wrestling moves, and this year Bridges shows us some musical talent. If you`ve seen both these movies then you understand that comparisons between them can`t be ignored. In The Wrestler Mickey Rourke used to be a wrestling star who struggled with health issues and when his career seemed to be going downward he met a girl that changed his life, while in Crazy Heart Jeff Bridges`s character goes through a similar phase because he is at his lowest point of his career when his life is changed around after he meets a female journalist. The outcome is different this time but the memories from a nostalgic past are very similar in both cases. This is Scott Cooper`s first film as a director after having acted in Gods and Generals and Austin Powers. He also wrote the adaptation of Crazy Heart from Thomas Cobb´s novel of the same name.

Crazy Heart focuses on the life of Otis Blake, better known by his artistic name Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges), a washed up country music legend who now has to settle for small gigs in bars, and yes, even bowling alleys. The opening scene reminded me a lot of one of Bridges`s better known characters, the Dude from the Coen brothers film The Big Lebowski. He was also a heavy drinker and always hung out in bowling alleys, but this time his character is very different even though he is a heavy drinker as well. Blake has a serious problem with his drinking and shows up drunk in most of his shows. His career seems to be going downward along with his personal life due to all the smoke and alcohol he drowns himself into, until he meets a journalist named Jean (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal from The Dark Knight and Donnie Darko) with whom a nice relationship develops. Jean has a four year old boy named Buddy (Jack Nation) who seems to get along really well with Blake. Things begin to look better for Blake when he receives a call from his manager telling him if he wants to open for Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrel from In Bruges and Miami Vice), the country music star of the moment. Blake hesitates at first because Tommy used to be his touring partner and he taught him everything there was to know about the business. Now that Tommy is a big shot he doesn`t want to do a record with him so Blake has hard feelings toward him. Oddly enough when we meet Tommy we discover he is nothing like Blake described him and is actually very grateful for everything that Blake taught him. His record company won`t allow him to make a record with Blake, but he offers him to write music for him. Blake is still resentful and continues struggling with alcohol until one day he has a car accident which makes him stay at home for a while and off the road. The doctor tells him that if he continues on the same path he is not going to live much longer. Another interesting character in this film is Wayne (Robert Duvall who also was a producer of this movie) who is one of his better friends from back home. Jean and Wayne are pretty much the only people he has a relationship with, but can any of them help him recover from his problems or is it just too late to make a change?

I really enjoyed the soundtrack of this movie and it reminded me a lot of my days in Nashville. There are a lot of good country songs, many of which are performed really well by Jeff Bridges and Colin Farrel themselves. Along with Walk The Line and Almost Famous, it is one of the best films about the music industry. It also proves that it is never too late to make a change in your life no matter how bad you have messed it up. I really liked the story and the message, but what really makes this film standout is Bridges`s performance. He is just great and definitely deserves the Oscar for best performance this year. Gyllenhaal was also good although I don`t think she will win the award for best supporting actress. Colin Farrel and Robert Duvall have received less credit because they were outshined by those performances, but I think they were really good as well. This is a good movie, one that you cannot miss if you like country music. Even if you don`t like the music the story works and it is just worth your time for Bridges`s performance alone.