Halifax, Nova Scotia | THE COAST: Movie Reviews

The American is subtle but satisfying

editor@thecoast.ca (Matt Semansky) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:00:00 -0300

How you feel about Anton Corbijn's film depends on how you feel about Clooney. by Matt Semansky One�s enjoyment of The American depends on one�s feelings about George Clooney. Director Anton Corbijn is clearly a fan, having placed almost the entire weight of his movie on the actor�s immaculately dressed shoulders.…

Get Low leaves on a high

editor@thecoast.ca (Sue Carter Flinn) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

by Sue Carter Flinn In lesser hands, Aaron Schneider's Get Low could have become a Hallmark "curmudgeon with a heart of gold" special. But thanks to nuanced, mature performances from Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Bill Murray, we have a quietly entertaining and, at times, funny yarn.…

Takers robs from more than the bank

editor@thecoast.ca (Matt Semansky) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

This heist movie is undermined by stolen ideas. by Matt Semansky Takers has all the requisite elements of a heist thriller. It�s got a crew of high-rolling, implausible stunt-performing, helicopter-detonating, walking-together-in-slow-motion bank robbers.…

Justin Long isn't Going the Distance

editor@thecoast.ca (Hillary Titley) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

The leading man in Drew Barrymore's new movie should play a supporting role, not lead actor. by Hillary Titley The dire attempt among some independently minded directors over the past couple of years hoping to shake something loose in the romantic comedy genre has mostly been hampered by poor judgment, either hinging the film on a self-absorbed twit ((500) Days of Summer) or by overestimating the appeal of its leading man. Nanette Burstein's Going the Distance is a long-distance relationship between Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, whose charm is palpable in small packages only (in real life, Long snags Barrymore and Hollywood responds by making entire movies devoted to solving the mystery of how that happened). Going The Distance has an appreciated frankness about relationships, but Long should be one of the rom-com's quirky supporting players, not the lead guy.]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Lotter Ticket fails to gamble

editor@thecoast.ca (Matt Semansky) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Erik White's newest plays it music-montage safe instead of hitting the jackpot with smart satire. by Matt Semansky Glimpses of insight pop up throughout Lottery Ticket, hinting at the smart satire it could have been if the filmmakers didn�t play it so music-montage safe. After winning the $370 million jackpot his project neighbours have salivated over, straight arrow Kevin (Bow Wow) tries to do the right thing with his wealth.…

The Last Exorcism twists out of shape

editor@thecoast.ca (Matt Semansky) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Eli Roth creates a film that collapses in stupidity. by Matt Semansky What starts as a clever update of the demonic possession narrative ends up as a pseudo-doc hack job that�s more Blair Witch than Linda Blair. Having built a career performing fraudulent exorcisms that hinge on cheap magic tricks and the irrational faith of his customers, a guilty Louisiana pastor (Patrick Fabian) invites a film crew to witness one last scam.…

Fun squashed when Nanny McPhee Returns

editor@thecoast.ca (Matt Semansky) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Emma Thompson's kiddie flick doesn't have enough madcap silliness. by Matt Semansky Emma Thompson returns to script and star in this sequel to the 2005 kiddie flick about a mysterious matron with magical powers and a clock-stopping face. This time, Nanny McPhee imparts five lessons to the unruly children of farm girl Isabel Green (Maggie Gyllenhaal, overdoing a British accent) and their snooty cousins.…

The Switch works

editor@thecoast.ca (Hillary Titley) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Jennifer Aniston's latest is surprisingly one of the best rom-coms of recent history. by Hillary Titley A good Jennifer Aniston movie, like a good romantic comedy, occurs with the frequency resembling the Halley�s Comet: only after a good number of years. And one can�t be blamed for feeling apprehensive about The Switch, with Aniston in a sometimes awkward love plot with Jason Bateman, but against all odds, this one works!…

Piranha 3D bites the end off of summer

editor@thecoast.ca (Hillary Titley) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Alexandre Aja's flick packs in-your-face blood splatter. by Hillary Titley August is often my favourite month for summer movies, as its titles---like Piranha 3D exemplifies---usually burst the bubble of three months worth of blockbuster pomposity. Piranha appropriates a hallmark of recent box office muscle---3D---and uses it to subvert the wow-factor of the experience by cramming as many unsavoury images as it can into your face.…

Vampires Suck your parody soul

editor@thecoast.ca (Hillary Titley) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer create a movie that stares back at you blankly. by Hillary Titley When Vampires Suck co-directors Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer look into a mirror, is there a face staring back at them? When they approach an automatic sliding door, does the scanner detect the presence of a soul?…

The Expendables lives up to its name

editor@thecoast.ca (Hillary Titley) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Sylvester Stallone�s bloodbath has a cartoonish look and a buffoonish vibe. by Hillary Titley Action-hero super-group, The Expendables, lead by Stallone, Statham and Li, are a mercenary hit squad tasked to do others� dirty work, this time taking out a cocaine kingpin (Eric Roberts). This isn�t a great action picture but the combined cast has starred in some of the greatest action pictures ever so the bar is set impossibly high.…

Eat Pray Love indulges

editor@thecoast.ca (Hillary Titley) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Julia Roberts' newest is enjoyable, and you shouldn't apologize for it. by Hillary Titley Eat Pray Love, both the book and the film, inspires a �how dare she� ire. The book by Elizabeth Gilbert is portrayed in some outlets such as bitchmagazine.org (search �priv-lit�) as the crime scene of some unforgivable transgression of gauche privilege.…

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is almost sensory overload...

editor@thecoast.ca (Matt Semansky) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Edgar Wright stays true to the comic's bam-pow aesthetic. by Matt Semansky An effects-laden action comedy for indie kids, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World hurtles along faster than the speed of critical thought. That�s probably for the best.…

Don't mind The Other Guys

editor@thecoast.ca (Hillary Titley) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Adam McKay�s indulgent narrative can't set up punchlines with a firm point of view. by Hillary Titley NYC cops Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg are the bumbling other guys to the regular cowboys in the bullpen, personified by Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson. Ferrell is a prissy poindexter and Wahlberg shot Derek Jeter in the thigh (an apparent no-no in NYC).…

Winter's Bones powerfully cathartic

editor@thecoast.ca (Hillary Titley) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

It's a film that has a story, not an agenda. by Hillary Titley A young woman, Ree (Jennifer Lawrence), takes care of her two younger siblings and an invalid mother in a tiny house on a rural clearing in the Ozarks. The town�s sheriff comes to the door to tell her that her meth-cook father has been released on bail and has put the family home up as collateral.…

Step Up 3D all moves

editor@thecoast.ca (Hillary Titley) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

What matters is the dancing, and it is spectacular. by Hillary Titley The cloyingly sincere Pirate dance crew of NYC enters the World Jam dance-off against the evil Samurais in a last ditch effort to save their beloved, ramshackle dance studio. If you had to come up with a dance crew concept---evil or otherwise---what would it be?…

Exit Through the Gift Shop is all about the cash

editor@thecoast.ca (Hillary Titley) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Sneaky-pants graffiti artist Banksy turns the camera on art world greed and fame. by Hillary Titley Whether you are artsy or fartsy, you've heard the question: "What makes an artist?" Ever notice how these debates always come down to money?…

Charlie St. Cloud floats away

editor@thecoast.ca (Hillary Titley) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

The movie is going for a Twilight-Zone-meets-Nicholas Sparks vibe, but shirks the possibilities. by Hillary Titley Charlie St. Cloud is the town golden boy and is the exact type of character you expect Zach Efron to play. A tragic car accident takes the life of Charlie�s beloved younger brother, so he defers his upcoming placement at Stanford University indefinitely to wallow in his remorse, meeting the ghost of said brother everyday for a game of catch.…

Dinner for Schmucks uses the wrong recipe

editor@thecoast.ca (Hillary Titley) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Paul Rudd and Steve Carell's latest is full of missed opportunities and bad choices. by Hillary Titley Bad movies are sometimes rendered diabolical in light of all the missed opportunities and bad choices contained within them. Dinner For Schmucks, where Paul Rudd invites atomic dork Steve Carell to the monthly office freak show/dinner party, is that kind of bad movie.…

Pass the Salt

editor@thecoast.ca (Hillary Titley) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Phillip Noyce's movie gives in to a little genre laziness, but not all the way. by Hillary Titley Let�s be upfront and get Salt�s faults out of the way: There is a plain, egregious misuse of the incomparable Andre Braugher, and two major plot twists are easy to foresee. However, in other ways, Salt overcomes mediocrity and poor judgment.…

Ramona and Beezus: the good kind of cute

editor@thecoast.ca (Hillary Titley) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:00:00 -0300

The film based on books by Beverly Cleary is cute and refreshing, without being insipid. by Hillary Titley Based on the books by Beverly Cleary, imaginative, nine-year-old Ramona Quimby (Joey King) copes with being the class misfit and the family trouble-maker. This film is cute without being insipid.…

Cyrus a movie about ordinary people

editor@thecoast.ca (Sean Flinn) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Vulnerability makes this Duplass brothers film. by Sean Flinn The Brothers Duplass deliver a rare piece of cinematic realism about a divorced, directionless guy named John (John C. Reilly) living in LA, on the fringe of Hollywood. (You sense its presence).…

The Kids Are All Right is more than alright

editor@thecoast.ca (Hillary Titley) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Art house queen Lisa Cholodenko has succeeded in creating a mainstream movie about families and partnership. by Hillary Titley For gay or straight parents, Mark Ruffalo's character Paul in The Kids Are All Right---tanned, coolly scruffy, possessing a college-is-a-waste-of-time attitude and riding a motorcycle---is your basic nightmare. Moms Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore) have plenty to fret over when their children (Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson) seek out their sperm donor father (Ruffalo), but you really feel their discomfort when Paul comes to dinner, and his grinning mumble-tone and casual bravado upsets the disciplined and hyper-articulate tone.…

Inception's storytelling is still in dreamworld

editor@thecoast.ca (Mark Palermo) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 04:00:00 -0300

The characters spend half of Christopher Nolan's film explaining it to each other. by Mark Palermo Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are Warriors of the Subconscious in Christopher Nolan's Inception. Secret agent Cobb (DiCaprio) enters peoples' dreams to steal knowledge and ideas.…

Predators lacks originality

editor@thecoast.ca (Hillary Titley) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 04:00:00 -0300

Nimrod Antal's film is reliable, but not memorable. by Hillary Titley Predators is perfectly serviceable, but not engaging enough to prevent the mind from wandering away from the plot and onto a moviegoer�s ongoing, large and vexing questions like, �Is originality now just a matter of making old properties fresh and feeling like new?� The director of this picture, Nimrod Antal, has a keen eye (a moonlit sword-fight with a predator is exquisite) and feel for action, but is a reliable filmmaker, not memorable one. Where has that excited anticipation for big movies gone?…