All posts by Stephen Michael Brown

I've reviewed films for more than 30 years. Current movie reviews of new theatrical releases and streaming films are added weekly to the Silver Screen Capture movie news site. Many capsule critiques originally appeared in expanded form in my syndicated Lights Camera Reaction column.

“Escape From Tomorrow” Renegade Movie Filmed in Disney Park

Escape From Tomorrow - 2013 - film posterQuite possibly the ultimate guerrilla movie (filmed undetected inside Disney parks), Randy Moore’s Escape From Tomorrow (B-) is disturbing tragicomedy about a recently unemployed man (Roy Abramsohn) going slowly insane while accompanying his family to the happiest place on earth. Cinema scholars will marvel over how this film even exists; others will appreciate the surreal Fellini/Lynch/Wenders monochrome style dream-like quirkiness; and most will scratch their heads over what it all means. Someone was drinking from a mad teacup when they thought this up.

“Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” Doesn’t Connect

image Jeff Tremaine’s hidden camera road trip comedy Bad Grandpa (C-) offers Johnny Knoxville in full makeup as a cantankerous codger and child actor Jackson Nicoll as his sidekick and prank co-conspirator in a threadbare plot about delivering the boy from jailbird mom to even worse dad for custody. Knoxville is game for the high-jinks but fails in adding any authenticity to his character, which means Nicoll carries most of the film’s minor charms on his small but mighty shoulders. The highlight is the film’s finale, an infiltration of a kid beauty pageant, and even that joke has been done before in Little Miss Sunshine. Still, as a prank and gag-filled throwaway endeavor, it’s got some occasional sweetness. The end credit bloopers make it look incredibly fun to make, even if that fun only intermittently manifests onscreen.

“Frozen” Works in Spurts

Frozen-movie-posterChris Buck and Jennifer Lee’s animated Disney movie Frozen (B+) mixes up the princess formula with some unexpected twists and largely enchanting results. This Scandanavian storybook adventure is filled with fresh ice effects, compelling heroines, charming sidekicks and winning songs by Kristen and Bobby Lopez. Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel’s power ballads and a snowman’s serenade to sunny climates – by Book of Mormon‘s Josh Gad – are among the highlights.

Technically, “Gravity” is Great

gravityA technical tour de force and a wonder to behold, Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity (B) is nonetheless weighed down by an oppressive storyline, stock characters and a script marred with a touch of self-importance. Both Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are bit characters eclipsed by incredible outer space floating effects. It’s highly recommended as a showcase for 3D and efficient as a thriller with some nail-biting moments, but it’s also far-fetched and ultimately orbits a black hole of melodrama. Clooney basically plays Buzz Lightyear. Bullock’s CGI face and tears seem like they’re emoting pretty well, but in space, no one can see you act. Gravity barely gave its characters the acumen to operate an Easy Bake Oven, while a simultaneous release Captain Phillips depicted complete technical mastery amidst the maritime brinkmanship.

“Catching Fire” a Letdown in “Hunger Games” Saga

image The second of the Hunger Games films is called Catching Fire (C-). It rarely does. Director Francis Lawrence’s unremarkable style can best be described as a cloud of smoke that poisons most of the charm and intrigue right out of the dome. When this sequel bothers to do more than simply retread the formula of the vastly more entertaining first film, it presents second rate drama, middling adventure and a love triangle most tepid. With major character traits a side pony and archery ability, Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss breathlessly bemoans her status in her dystopian future. She’s hardly got her heroine hat on. Josh Hutcherson’s unleavened performance as Peeta is basically little more than a damsel in distress role. And the plot and screenplay? Pure jabberjay!

Note: This movie was filmed in Georgia. Thanks to friend Jay Croft and StoryCroft blog for the mention of our site.

“12 Years a Slave” a Harrowing Masterpiece

image Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave (A-) is a harrowing true story told masterfully. Journeyman actor Chiwetel Ejiofor creates the role of a lifetime as a free man kidnapped in 1841 into a life as a Southern slave. Gorgeously art directed and unflinching in its brutality, the film earns its emotions and is gripping throughout. You’ll be challenged constantly about the dehumanizing system that plagued much of our country’s history and ultimately inspired by a courageous character. After Fruitvale Station and The Butler, this is another provocative and deservingly acclaimed work about race relations that demands to be seen.

“Prisoners” (2013) a Gripping Action Drama

An absorbing dramatic thriller about the lengths people will go to in the wake of child abduction, Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners (A) is this year’s master class of acting. Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman go to extremes as central protagonists obsessed with solving a twisted mystery. It’s a labyrinth of moral ambiguity and cinematic delights.

“We’re The Millers” Only Occasionally Funny

were-the-millers-522a8a6a6eebeWe’re the Millers (C+), a comedy directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, hearkens back to the spirit of National Lampoon’s Vacation, although this time around it’s a fake family on a road trip to smuggle drugs across the Mexican border and get them back to Denver, Smokey and the Bandit style (except in an RV) for a crime boss. Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston are workmanlike as the leads, neither over the top nor pouring on too much wit or charm into the roles. Individual episodes and lines sporadically land, but there’s too much reliance on throwaway pop culture references for the film to amount to much on its own terms. Still, it’s a funny enough vehicle for its ensemble and an occasionally witty satire about the suburban mystique. More bawdy than brainy but often worth the journey for a handful of laughs.

“Spectacular Now” is Affecting Drama

the-spectacular-now-2013-02James Ponsoldt’s The Spectacular Now (B+) reminded me of the ’80s fave Lucas with a similar melancholy I found so affecting in Perks of Being a Wallflower, and lead actor Miles Teller as the effortless charmer harboring an alcohol addiction channels a sort of Say Anything era John Cusack, if he were on an endless bender while winning love with jambox held aloft. The theme is about intoxication, to alcohol and to first love: Shailene Woodley is devastating as the naive good girl heroine, filling her first boyfriend’s flask for him as he drunkenly drives her to a date he’s just dreamed up. It’s eerie how much this could have just been called the Lea Michele/Corey Monteith story. The take-away, that life and relationships are more enduring than the episodes between blackouts, rises above the potential afterschool special pitfalls.

“Oz: The Great and Powerful” Visuals Eclipse Story

Oz_-_The_Great_and_Powerful_PosterDirector Sam Raimi has built a palace on a poppy field with the visually resplendent, narratively inert box office hit Oz: The Great and Powerful (C-). Built around a conman protagonist played by James Franco and featuring the most star studded trio of witches since Disney’s similarly hideous Hocus Pocus, this tedious journey through predictable prequeldom is pretty much a mess from start to finish. Ah, but that beautiful spectacle – almost everything emerald or enchanting you could dream of painting on a green screen! Too bad there are only about two or three moments that make you care. When Disney further extends this yellow brick franchise, I suggest new screenwriters behind the curtain.

“Elysium” a Sturdy Sci-Fi Allegory

Although it is most potent in its first hour, Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium (B-) is a sturdily crafted allegory about the haves and have nots of a dystopian future. Matt Damon oozes Everyman charm as the hero, and Jodie Foster chews the scenery of her frosty, somewhat underwritten villainess role. The best parts – the heady, political stuff, dissipates into brief action set pieces toward the end. The effects and art direction are strong throughout. Very good at times and altogether just a bit less than the sum of its ambition. Still recommended.

Blanchett the Best Part of “Blue Jasmine”

Two reasons to see Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine (C): if you’re a completist of the idiosyncratic writer/director (I am) and to see Cate Blanchett’s layered performance as manic-depressive scorned wife of a Bernie Madoff type (Alec Baldwin). Given the critical adoration of this film, I’d swear there’s some pyramid scheme afoot investing richly in Manhattan’s maestro having a new classic on his hands. There are indeed a few nice moments, and it’s an often fascinating character sketch likely to lead Cate to awards acclaim; but in such a rich canon for Allen, this gloomy bloom isn’t loaded for much of a boom. I will be the first critic to award a “meh” to this summer sleeper.