8
There is much enjoyment to be derived from the very entertaining sports documentary The Battered Bastards of Baseball. It not only works for fans of the sport but also for non-fans alike. It’s about a rag-tag bunch of disparate personalities; it’s about bucking the system; and, like many great sports films, it’s about the underdog.
7
Filmmaking duo Lord and Miller make no pretenses when it comes to this sequel for a surprise box office success, a reboot no one necessarily cared about based on a late-eighties television series that's mainly remembered for having Johnny Depp in the cast. And, for as ridiculous as all that sounds, Lord and Miller successfully, and surprisingly, capitalized on the first iteration of the new Jump Street and they seem to have done it again, all because of one fairly simple design, they know that all of this is ridiculous. They don't hide it, they flat-out tell you again and again throughout the film with the addition of unnecessary-sequel tropes that are quickly subverted to great comical effect.
8
Hellion is the latest film from director Kat Candler, based on her short film by the same name. While the film follows a slightly typical arc of family turmoil and drama, the great performances and solid script excuse the ordinary plot. It’s a solid familial drama that proves to be riveting, heartbreaking, and emotionally exhausting. More than anything however, Hellion is about taking ownership of one’s responsibilities.
4
Sci-fi films, well most films actually, often leave themselves open for scrutiny. When a film takes place on another planet or in a different time, like the distant past or future, and the filmmakers do a decent job of setting up the environment in an engaging way – it’s usually easier for an audience to buy into the faux locale or point in time, making the viewer more susceptible to the unfolding drama.
6.5
Everything about Witching and Bitching is completely absurd and over the top in the best possible ways. Despite the undesirable title, Álex de la Iglesia’s Witching and Bitching is a raucously fun ride that packs in plenty of laughs and gross-out moments. Harkening back to the classic days of horror comedy, before directors like Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson were playing with Hobbits and wizards, this is a new-school film that has a very old-school feel.
1
Mark Newton’s action-comedy Hit Team is one of the most profoundly annoying films I’ve had the displeasure of witnessing this year. The film captures all of the over-acting and stupidity of a Troma movie, minus the copious amounts of gore. The plot is serviceable and the cinematography is fairly well done, but the deplorable script and performances bring it down to an almost unwatchable level.
6
The story at the heart of Sand Castles could be ripped from the headlines. A young girl is abducted by a sex offender and held captive for more than a decade. Some films would focus on the abduction, the search for the kidnapped girl, and/or the apprehension of the perpetrator (for example, see Prisoners). However, Jordon Hodges’ screenplay deals with the girl’s return and what that means to her and her family.
8.5
It would be very easy to be dismissive of this sci-fi actioner because of its obvious similarities to the comedy classic Groundhog Day. Based on the film’s theatrical trailer there’s no arguing that. However, by doing so you may be denying yourself the pleasure of seeing one of the best sci-fi films to hit the silver screen in several years. A good science fiction film will always take something familiar and put a new spin on it and inject it with something fresh and new. Time travel movies are a dime and dozen and without naming names there have been some outstanding films in that genre. Movies based on video games are often trapped by their source’s concept but for every few bad ones there’s always a really good one. Doug Liman’s Edge of Tomorrow fulfills the criteria for a good science fiction film in this fun, fast-paced, thought-provoking, often funny, Tom Cruise lead adventure.
5
The world of academia is incredibly ripe for real-life drama. I should know, I spent more than a decade in it. So, too, did director Miles Doleac before he took to acting a few years ago. His immaturity is evident in his first all-consuming project – The Historian – which he also produced, wrote and directed. With a meandering script and a heavy amount of overacting, it is easy to argue that Doleac is not in the same class as other triple threats like Woody Allen. But for a first-time attempt, it's not a total loss.
8
Borgman, the latest from Dutch director Alex van Warmerdam, is finally coming to theaters stateside after a lengthy festival run, accumulating numerous awards and just as many confounding reactions with its eccentric emulsion of various religious mythologies housed inside a meticulously clean and crisp visual presentation. It must be said that the optimal way to experience Borgman, is to go into the film blind; it's best that the viewer knows little to nothing about this film in order to fully get lost in its peculiar proceedings.
6
Release Date: June 10, 2014
Director: Jordan Barker
MPAA Rating: NR
“When one has not had a good father, one must create one.”
Jordan Barker’s Torment opens with this Friedrich Nietzsche quote. It’s a quote that
6.5
Going into Willow Creek, the latest offering from writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait, I found myself feeling conflicted before the film even began. On one hand, my found-footage horror fatigue is still in full force, making it difficult to feel interested in anything in this stale genre. On the other hand, Goldthwait has proven himself multiple times over as a solid director, and I was interested to see his take on a horror film. Fortunately, Willow Creek zaps a few jolts of life back into found footage with a funny, tense and rewarding little Bigfoot movie. The film stars Alexie Gilmore and Bryce Johnson as a young couple setting out to make a Sasquatch documentary in the mountains of Northern California where the famous Patterson-Gimlin footage was caught. As one might imagine, they receive more than they bargained for when strange things begin to happen out there in the forest.
8
Gillian Robespierre’s Obvious Child is by far the funniest film about abortion I’ve ever seen. Jenny Slate’s cute as a button, yet absolutely vulgar demeanor help make this one of the most fun breakup comedies to come out in recent years.
7
Just when you thought you knew the story of Sleeping Beauty either from the original account or the 1959 Disney animated classic, Maleficent turns the fairy tale on its head and does so in a most unexpected way. I was not looking forward to seeing this movie from the trailer alone, and felt like I had seen this story before. What could be new and how laughable would Angelina Jolie be as Maleficent. Well, there are three main reasons to see this film: (1) Jolie’s performance in the title role, (2) some spectacular special effects, and (3) the surprising way in which the story unfolds which I did not see coming but which I admired. There is even some humor thrown in for good measure, something I was not expecting to see despite this being a Disney movie.
4.5
Since Family Guy debuted in 1999, creator Seth MacFarlane has made a name for himself by providing edgy, irreverent, and hilarious comedy. The episodes were endlessly quotable and featured cutaway gags that were second to none. Last year, when MacFarlane made the transition to live action filmmaking with Ted, many were skeptical if this humor would translate to the big screen. Fortunately it did, and Ted was one of the top grossing films of last summer. This summer MacFarlane is back with A Million Ways to Die in the West, a comedic western that does bring a few laughs, but causes many more yawns.
8
Outcasts. Misfits. Weirdos. Troublemakers. These are labels that could easily be attached to any number of teenage social groups. What’s a young person suppose to do when they are looked down upon by others? Well crying about it isn’t the answer. Accepting who you are and standing up for yourself and your friends by forming a punk band is the obvious answer. What? In Stockholm of the early eighties that is exactly what two young girls do. Tired of being told to confirm and be like any other teenage girl at school two friends decide to start a band to protest the state of music and society as they see it. Lukas Moodysson’s latest film We Are the Best! follows three girls as they try to establish their identities through their music and their friendship.
