Movie Review: Trainwreck

Judd Apatow isn’t for everyone. Amy Schumer isn’t for everyone. This “romantic comedy” is longer than 2 hours. Put all these things together and this movie could have been a disaster. So once the movie was over I was utterly surprised that my first thought was, “Wow, this might be the first and ONLY movie I’ve ever like of Judd Apatow’s.”

Trainwreck
Directed by: Judd Apatow
Starring: Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Brie Larson, John Cena, Vanessa Bayer, Tilda Swinton, Randall Park, Ezra Miller

Amy Schumer isn’t for everyone, but apparently she is for me. She has this great way of putting into words everything I’ve ever felt or thought and experienced but without any filter. No one’s life is perfect, but sometimes I can’t help but feel my life is just one really, really, REALLY long sitcom. And somehow Amy knows just how to put those feelings into hilarious, over-the-top, yet somehow relatable words.

To make a LOOONNG story short. Trainwreck is about a carefree and independent a woman named Amy. She has a successful job, an endless string of one night stands and no desire to change her ways according to the mantra her father instilled in her at a young age, “monogamy isn’t realistic.” Then one day Amy meets a guy, possibly THEE guy. He’s the guy who makes her want to change her ways even if it goes against everything instinct she had engrained in her.

Trainwreck is goofy, surprisingly touching, frustrating, endearing and funny. While it is in no way perfect, and emotionally it’s all over the place, any inconsistencies and odd moments are made up for in a fantastic sweet and satisfying ending. Good romantic comedies with great endings are really hard to find, but despite the fact that this is an Apatow movie, Trainwreck is the best I’ve seen in a while thanks to Amy Schumer (who also wrote the script.)

Rating 3.5 out of 5 stars

Movie Review: Snowpiercer

 

Snowpiercer is dark and it’s hilarious, it’s subtle and it’s over the top, it’s violent and it’s gentle. It’s all these things without being too much. It’s movie making at its best: creative, smart, thrilling, original, and a movie that makes you excited. Everything about this movie is just right.

Snowpiercer
Directed By: Boon Joon-ho
Starring: Chris Evans, Kang-ho Song, Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer, John Hurt, Ed Harris, Alison Pill, Ah-sung Ko

Premise: A failed global experiment dispenses a frozen tundra across Earth killing off most of the planet. The remaining survivors are collected onto a massive train called the Snowpiercer that has been circling the Earth in a perpetual state of motion for the past 17 years. The lower class passengers are relegated to the back of the train forced to eat disgusting food (if they even get to eat at all) while the upper class passengers sit at the front of the train living in luxury. Hoping to change their circumstances, Curtis reluctantly finds himself leader of a strange band of renegades who strive to fight for better living conditions by killing Wilfred, the pusedo-god all the upper citizens worship for being responsible for the train and their survival.

 

 

4 Things I Liked About Snowpiercer

 

1)  Tilda Swinton Wins The Movie: Snowpiercer is filled with eccentric and diverse performances from its quirky characters.   Kang-ho Song and Ah-sung Ko are funny as the drug addicted father-daughter duo with special skills to help Curtis (Chris Evans) on his mission. Alison Pill is brilliant as the overly perky, obviously brainwashed, definitely disturbed pregnant grade school teacher. But it’s Tilda Swinton’s performance as Mason, the person enforcing all the rules, keeping everyone in line, that definitely wins the movie. She completely immerses herself in this delusional character and is able to bring strange and creepy quirks to the role without going overboard with her performance. She really is just a marvel to watch, buck teeth and all.

2)  The Production Design and Set Dressing was Visually Striking:  Each room of the train was different, but still dynamic. It was set up in the perfect way for a fresh and new adventure to happen within a small, contained space.  While watching this movie my friend actually said, the production designer must have had so much fun making the movie.

3)  The Movie was a Fresh Take on an Old Story: Snowpiercer was a blend of many different genres. It was Tarantino-esque, with Asian movie themes, all taking place in a dystopian world. But somehow, even with these blending of genres, the movie managed to feel fresh and original. The fight things were creative (especially fighting in the dark), and yes, there was brutal violence, but it wasn’t overtly bloody. It wasn’t gratuitous. You know no limbs falling off or blood squirting out. Just the normal amount of gore, you know, when you’re shooting and slicing your way through a passenger train.

4)  Chris Evans was a Great Leading Man: As important as the story, the production design, the directing, and the other actors were, Chris Evans as the lead was just as important. He had this spark in him throughout the entire movie. You could tell he really loved what he was doing. He showed his “superhero” strength in the intense action sequences, and he also showed his vulnerable side in the more emotional scenes. He was believable and he was more than just a pretty face.

Snowpiercer is one of those movies you always remember. There is something in this movie for everyone. It is a movie that brings a sledgehammer to your imagination bubble and cracks it wide open letting all its contents spill out and into your soul. And if you’re a creator after watching this movie, you’re going to want to create. Snowpiercer is a movie for movie lovers. So go watch it already.

Rating: 4 ½ stars (out of 5)

 

 

 

Movie Review: We Need To Talk About Kevin

This movie is not for the faint of heart. It’s really dark. It leaves a lot up to debate, and it also makes me never want to have kids.

 

We Need To Talk About Kevin

 Starring: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller, Jasper Newell

Premise: One day, Kevin, son to Eva and Franklin, gets up and decides to go on a killing spree at his high school. Everyone always talks about the victims and their families, but no one ever talks about the killer and his (or her) family. This movie follows Eva both before and after the fact. It explores what Kevin was like when he was younger, his relationship with his mother, as well as Eva’s life after that fact as she tries figures out what to do next, and how to survive the situation.

My Review: When watching this movie, I couldn’t help feeling like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. It’s dark, and heavy, and already knowing the premise, from the beginning, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for Eva (Tilda Swinton). She suffered the worst kind of tragedy imaginable, and is trying to put her life back together, or at least survive, but no one lets her forget it. No one lets her move on. And should they? Is it her fault Kevin killed all those students? Why does she choose to stay in that town where she lost everything? Does she deserve to be subjected to that kind of scrutiny and pain after suffering so much already? Somehow, for me, the question is yes and no at the same time.

Kevin from the start was not a good kid, not to say that all kids who start out bad will turn out to be mass murder’s but there was something unsettling about Kevin from the start. Jasper Newell, the kid who played Kevin from age 6-8, was extraordinary. He was evil and adorable at the same time. Watching the way younger Kevin treated his mother made me feel like I never wanted to have kids. Newell was so good that kid should get an Oscar. Seriously.

This movie also had a lot of subtle twists as well as one big twist. I went into this movie with certain expectations as to how things would end. As to the extent of what Kevin did. I knew it would be tragic, but I didn’t know it would end like that. The circumstances under which Kevin mass murdered his fellow students are so horrific, it’s probably something I’ll never forget.

I don’t know if I’d classify We Need To Talk About Kevin as a great movie, but it was powerful, thought provoking, slightly traumatizing, and extremely well-acted. It’s definitely a movie worth checking out. But those ending images will stay with you for a long time. You’ll need a drink after it’s over. That I can promise you.

 

Rating: 3 ½ Stars.