Michael Bacall
Occupation
Actor
22 Jump Street Review
By Rich Cline
Very Good
A consistently hilarious stream of in-jokes keeps the audience in fits of laughter even if there's virtually no plot to this follow-up to the 2012 hit 21 Jump Street. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum revive their amusing double-act to poke fun at sequels and franchises amid silly set-pieces and starry cameos. And it gives filmmakers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller their second terrific comedy of the year, after The Lego Movie.
Following their successful bust of a high school drug ring, undercover officers Schmidt and Jenko (Hill and Tatum) are assigned by their grumpy captain (Ice Cube) to infiltrate a university and track down who's dealing the new drug whyphy. But both get distracted by life on campus: Schmidt begins a romance with Maya (Amber Stevens), while Jenko finds his meathead soul-mate in football teammate Zook (Wyatt Russell). With their partnership in jeopardy, Schmidt and Jenko must refocus on a spring break trip to Mexico, where they discover an old nemesis (Peter Stormare) on the loose.
Using a non-stop series of gags about how follow-up movies are more expensive and less original, the filmmakers go about proving this hypothesis with amusingly overwrought sets and a chaotic, derivative narrative that has very little momentum. Meanwhile, they pack every moment of the film with witty humour that's played expertly by Hill and Tatum, who rekindle their chemistry with a steady barrage of gay double entendre that reveals the movie's true nature as a brom-com. On the other hand, neither the actors nor the filmmakers are willing to push things too far, so they settle for silly vulgarity instead of any black comedy or edgy humour.
Continue reading: 22 Jump Street Review
Django Unchained Alternative Trailer
German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz is on the hunt for a brutal gang of murderers, the Brittle brothers. His search leads him to the only person who has information on the group, Django, who is a slave living in the deep south of the States. Schultz crosses his path as he finds Django shackled to a group of other slaves who are all being taken to auction. Posing as a dentist, Schultz requests to buy him from his owners. On the owners' refusal, Schultz ruthlessly shoots them to death and takes the slave. The bounty hunter promises to free Django and take him to rescue his wife, Broomhilda, who has been enslaved by a Mississippi plantation owner on the dead or alive capture of the Brittle brothers. On their success, Schultz frees Django as promised but the pair decides to stick together as bounty hunters full time. Their search for Broomhilda leads him to the 'Candyland' plantation owner Calvin Candie who has trainer Ace Woody train slaves to fight each other for sport. The bounty hunters arouse suspicion from loyal house slave Stephen as they arrive to explore the property under a false guise and soon become under threat by a dangerous organisation who are determined not to let them escape with Broomhilda.
This western drama is directed by the award-winning director, writer and Quentin Tarantino ('Pulp Fiction', 'Kill Bill', 'Reservoir Dogs') and includes a star-studded cast. 'Django Unchained' is a thought provoking story set in the deep south of America two years before the Civil War. It was inspired by 60s western 'Django' along with its sequels and includes a cameo appearance from 'Django' star Franco Nero.
It is set for release on December 25th 2013 in the US and January 18th 2013 in the UK.
Directed By: Quentin Tarantino
Continue: Django Unchained Alternative Trailer
Django Unchained Trailer
German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz is on the hunt for a brutal gang of murderers, the Brittle brothers. His search leads him to the only person who has information on the group, Django, who is a slave living in the deep south of the States. Schultz crosses his path as he finds Django shackled to a group of other slaves who are all being taken to auction. Posing as a dentist, Schultz requests to buy him from his owners. On the owners' refusal, Schultz ruthlessly shoots them to death and takes the slave. The bounty hunter promises to free Django and take him to rescue his wife, Broomhilda, who has been enslaved by a Mississippi plantation owner on the dead or alive capture of the Brittle brothers. On their success, Schultz frees Django as promised but the pair decides to stick together as bounty hunters full time. Their search for Broomhilda leads him to the 'Candyland' plantation owner Calvin Candie who has trainer Ace Woody train slaves to fight each other for sport. The bounty hunters arouse suspicion from loyal house slave Stephen as they arrive to explore the property under a false guise and soon become under threat by a dangerous organisation who are determined not to let them escape with Broomhilda.
Continue: Django Unchained Trailer
21 Jump Street Review
By Rich Cline
Excellent
An especially sharp script makes this riotous adaptation of the serious-minded 1980s TV series thoroughly entertaining. And it manages to achieve a balance between the action and spoofery due to sure-handed direction and a cast that really dives into the mayhem.
Rivals in high school, popular pretty boy Jenko (Tatum) and smart-shy nerd Schmidt (Hill) become unlikely friends to get through police academy. But being cops isn't quite as exciting as they thought it would be until they're assigned to the Jump Street squad run by Captain Dickson (Cube). This group of baby-faced cops infiltrate high schools, posing as students. Jenko and Schmidt's assignment is to find the source of a new super-drug that recently caused the death of a student.
Continue reading: 21 Jump Street Review
Manic Review
Good
When troubled teen Lyle (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) goes postal, gets put in restraints, and is commited by his mother to a juvenile mental facility, we get sent there, as well. Suddenly, we're in institutional surroundings much like that in Girl, Interrupted -- only we stay there. We don't get to escape and have an adventure on the outside. What's worse, we're subjected to digital video camera work that is tortuous enough to bring out whatever manic manifestation there might be lurking on the edge of our frontal lobe. It's cinema verité and as subjective as a camera can be.
The backstory on Lyle is that he attacked a kid with a baseball bat. Yes, the guy taunted him during a baseball game, and Lyle has had his share of troubles at home -- all of which is going to come out in therapy -- but that's why he's considered enough of a menace to society and to himself to make him a candidate for Northward Mental Institution, a spa for undisciplined youths run by therapist-in-charge Dr. David Monroe (Don Cheadle). Totally tight-lipped at first, Lyle commands attention by the sheer unpredictability of how and when his fast fuse of rage will ignite into violence.
Continue reading: Manic Review