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Shame
One of things about making a movie formed around sex addiction is that it cannot hold back. The writers and director can’t just imply that sex is going on off screen, they have to show it. And in Shame, they definitely do not hold back.Michael Fassbender plays a successful business man who is addicted to sex. His minimalist apartment, his great job, and his fine looks don’t help him in this addiction, they just mask it. I feel like I just described the premise of American Psycho, and that comparison rings true but I would relate this movie more to Requiem for a Dream. Fassbender’s routine is interrupted when his sister, played by the ever amazing Carey Mulligan, decides to visit and stay at his apartment. He now has to hide and deal with his addiction in another way than usual.
Shame never beats the audience over the head with “sexual addiction is a serious problem! Listen to me!” which is very admirable as that could have easily been the outcome. The film takes its time, letting it (and the audience) breathe easily during the harder parts. And it helps that the one takes and beautiful cinematography supplement for the darker points of the film.
Grade: A-
Movie Review: Marvel’s The Avengers
Written by Michael Shurtz
I am reviewing Marvel’s The Avengers without ever reading a single Avenger comic book. “CRUCIFY HIM!!!!” is something you might be shouting right now. This review is coming from someone who has a casual relationship with comics, but a serious relationship with movies. With that said, I may miss some of the criticisms the fan-boys may have with how The Hulk was a different shade of green in the comics or some shit. But, I think I am fully qualified to tell you if The Avengers is a good movie or not and the answer to that question is yes, it’s pretty good. Although, it does have faults.
To start, Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark is the best thing about this movie. Every line that leaves his mouth is perfect. This is probably because the character of Stark isn’t too much of a stretch for RDJ, but he is entertaining as hell anyway. A close second for the best thing in this film is The Hulk. Action sequences involving him are the highlights of the film. Now, let’s not get confused though, the writing for the Bruce Banner character made me want to kill myself. Mark Ruffalo does the best he can with what he was given and he is the best Hulk so far, but there were far too many jokes and quips Banner says about the fact that he transforms into a “giant, green, rage monster.” It was enough for me to want to shout “OKAY!!! I GET IT NOW!!!”
Now let’s move on to things that made me want to yell “NO!!! I DON’T GET IT YET!! I WANT MORE!!!” The characters of Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow) and Clint Barton (Hawkeye) were not explained well enough. The majority of the people seeing this movie are not familiar with these people. They haven’t really been in any previous movie so there hasn’t been a real introduction to them (Black Widow in Iron Man 2, and Hawkeye in the super secret ending scene of Thor). The most we get is half-ass story told by Romanoff that kind of explains who they are. I still don’t know. The same can be said for the lame way they explained the relationship between the two heroes.
My biggest complaint with The Avengers is something I hate in a lot of movies. I call it “The Easy-Way-Out Approach” or a deus ex machina. This is when characters in a movie are put into an impossible situation, but all of a sudden there is a magic way to fix the problem that was not mentioned earlier in the film but has been there the whole time, whether it makes sense or not. It just seems like they wrote themselves into a corner and one writer said “Shit…how do they get out of this?” And another says, “Just make a big red ABORT button that no one saw before appear.” DONE! It just seemed lazy to me. It happens twice in the film: Once, when they attempt to explain why Bruce Banner can control The Hulk and another time at the climax of the final battle.
The Avengers is by no means a bad movie. It is hugely entertaining, the story and action is paced well, and it’s just plain cool. In my opinion, it’s the best superhero movie that hasn’t been directed by Christopher Nolan. But even those movies aren’t perfect and neither is this one.
Shurtz’s Verdict: B-
Movie Review: The Cabin in the Woods
The hardest thing about writing this review is that I cannot tell you that much about The Cabin in the Woods without ruining the experience for you, but I will try my best.The Cabin in the Woods is both your typical horror movie and the ultimate horror movie. It’s both “Oh it’s a scary monster!” and “This makes me think, man.” The movie was written by Drew Goddard (who also directs) and Joss Whedon. Both have talents for genre-bending, so Cabin lives up to that very well.
Again, I can’t write that much about the movie other than if you like The Evil Dead, or Scream, or a horror movie filled with great story, The Cabin in the Woods is very much recommended. It’s not just the scares that make Cabin so great, or the twists, or the cleverness of the script, it’s the execution of all of those traits that make it stand out.
Grade: A
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