Movie/TV Reviews

Susan Granger’s review of “In a World…” (Roadside Attractions)

 

Have you ever wondered about the people who make those tantalizing film trailers, portentously voicing, “In a world where…”? That’s what this movie’s about. Working as screenwriter, director, producer and star, multi-faceted Lake Bell peeks behind-the-curtain of Hollywood’s little known but highly competitive ‘voice-over’ profession.

Haplessly neurotic Carol Solomon (that’s Bell) is a dialect coach and aspiring voice-over artist whose ego-centric father, Sam Soto (Fred Melamed), is one of the industry’s sonorous greats. Rather than encouraging Carol, pompous, chauvinistic Sam constantly demeans her efforts, telling her, “The industry does not crave a female sound.”  Instead, he serves as mentor to Gustav Werner (Ken Marino), an arrogant, up-and-coming protégé who, not realizing who she is, seduces Carol after an industry party at his mansion. Meanwhile, Carol’s encouraged by Louis (Demetri Martin), a nerdy post-production audio engineer who not only adores her but pushes big business her way. This all happens just as she’s forced to move out of her father’s apartment and crash on her older sister
(Michaela Watkins) and brother-in-law’s (Rob Corddry) couch while they’re in the midst of a marital crisis. To complicate matters further, Carol, Sam and Gustav find themselves engaged in a toxic rivalry, vying to land the all-important trailer for a new movie franchise, “The Amazon Games,” which will enable them to utter the “In this world…” phrase made famous by the legendary baritone
Don LaFontaine, who died in 2008.

As writer, Lake Bell delivers a witty, sophisticated screenplay, tinged with satirical sexism, yet filled with smart, multi-faceted characters.  As director, her casting sense is astute, although her comedic pacing occasionally resembles that of a sitcom. As the charming, if self-involved protagonist, Bell takes particular delight in tweaking ditsy young women with squeaky voices. Eva Longoria gamely proves she’s a great sport in a self-parodying Cockney-accent scene, while Tig Notaro, Nick Offerman, Alexandra Holden and Geena Davis lend support.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “In a World…” is a savvy, screwball 7, a low-budget
feminist comedy gem.

Susan Granger’s review of “The Family” (Relativity)

 

French director Luc Besson has assembled a star-studded cast for this dark, mobsters-in-hiding
comedy, revolving around Giovanni Manzoni (Robert DeNiro), who has millions in the bank, but he’s ruthlessly ratted out the Brooklyn Mafia and will spend the rest of his life in the FBI’s Witness Protection Program. Problem is: he keeps blowing his cover, which frustrates his dyspeptic handler (Tommy Lee Jones).

With his highly functional, dysfunctional family, Gio has just been re-located to a small village in Normandy, France. Under the assumed name of Blake, the Manzonis are faced with yet another set of re-adjustment problems. Gio’s wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer) not only can’t find peanut butter in the food mart but she’s rudely informed that local grocers don’t like to stock American products. Infuriated at the disrespect, she blows up the place. The manipulative Manzoni offspring – 17 year-old Belle (Dianna Agron, the head cheerleader from TV’s “Glee”) and her 14 year-old brother Warren (John D’Leo) – quickly size up their new schoolmates and embark on their own schemes. Instructed to stay in the house most of the time, aging Gio discovers an old, manual typewriter and decides to
write a tell-all memoir. And the Manzonis’ ‘get-acquainted’ barbecue backfires when they realize the depth of their arrogant neighbors’ condescension. Meanwhile, back home, the imprisoned Mafia dons dispatch contract killers to exact retribution.

Written by director Luc Besson (“The Fifth Element,” “The Invisibles”) with Michael Caleo, it’s adapted from Tonino Benacquista’s novel “Malavita.” While the weak, uneven script never settles on a consistent, cohesive tone, the performances elevate the material.  By now, Robert DeNiro can
play sociopathic mobsters in his sleep but, to his credit, he doesn’t. Revisiting her previous turns in “Scarface” and “Married to the Mob,” Michelle Pfeiffer seems to have perfected an empathetic take on the brittle gangster parody, while Tommy Lee Jones exudes an exasperated world-weariness.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Family” is a facetious, amusingly amoral 6, laden
with far-from comedic carnage.

Susan Granger’s review of “Riddick” (Universal Pictures)

 

Having made his debut in 2000’s “Pitch Black” as an escaped convict from the planet Furya, Vin
Diesel’s titular, sci-fi anti-hero returned in 2004’s disastrously convoluted sequel, “Chronicles of Riddick,” but now he’s has been off the screen for nine years. What happened?

Apparently, the dangerous outlaw Richard B. Riddick been left for dead on a desolate, sun-scorched planet for most of that time, battling the merciless elements, fighting carnivorous CGI creatures, making himself immune to the poisonous bite of an outer space-scorpion, and domesticating a jackal-like animal that becomes his alien guardian. Cynically mumbling, “There are bad days – and there are legendary bad days. This was one of those,” two teams of bounty hunters suddenly appear, responding to a galaxy-wide emergency beacon that Riddick has deliberately set off. And – not surprisingly – they’re both after him: dead or alive but, preferably, dead. As the mercenaries bicker and squabble amongst themselves – with an arrogant Hispanic stalker named Santana (Jordi Molla) threatening to rape the attractive lesbian Dahl (Katee Sackoff from “Battlestar Galactica”), while no-nonsense Boss Johns (Matt Nable) is just trying to figure out what happened to his son – rugged Riddick, who has been endowed with extraordinary dark vision, has time to strategize how to outwit and outfight his pursuers in order to commandeer one of their spaceships and survive another day.

Based on a concept created by Jim and Ken Wheat, writer/director David Twohy (“The Fugitive,” “A Perfect Getaway”) helms an unabashedly violent B-movie with lots of voice-overs, supporting caricatures instead of characters, and cheesy, low-budget special effects that are, most often, dimly lit.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Riddick” is a viscerally ferocious 5, delivering brawny, low-octane Diesel.

Susan Granger’s review of “Austenland” (Sony Pictures Classics)

 

With her highly successful “Twilight” franchise, author Stephanie Meyer demonstrated the box-office power of appealing to a primarily female audience. Now, as producer, she’s assembled a female-centric production team, beginning with director Jerusha Hess who, working with author Shannon Hale, adapted this giddy romantic comedy from Hale’s 2007 novel about a woman who is obsessed with a BBC production of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.”

Besotted with dreams of her own difficult, distant Mr. Darcy, thirtysomething Jane Hayes (Keri Russell) keeps a life-sized cardboard cutout of Colin Firth in her bedroom.  After selling her car, Jane ponies up enough money to fly to England for an expensive vacation at a British theme resort called Austenland, where primly imperious Mrs. Wattlesbrook (Jane Seymour) promises every lovelorn visitor a chaste, 19^th century romance with an on-staff actor. Once there, mousy Jane makes the acquaintance of crass Elizabeth Charming (Jennifer Coolidge), a wealthy American who’s never actually read Jane Austen’s literary classics but enjoys wearing “those wench dresses.”  As they squeal and sashay around the drawing room in Regency Era costumes, they’re faux-wooed by various fictional suitors, including foppish Colonel Andrews (James Callis), roguish Capt. George East (Ricky
Whittle) and a dour Darcy-double, Henry Nobley (JJ Field). Disillusioned because her limited funds mean she’s known as “Miss Jane Erstwhile, an orphan of no fortune” and, therefore, cannot enjoy the same exquisite luxuries as the other role-playing bachelorettes, like Amelia Heartwright (Georgia King), who purchased a ‘platinum premium package,’ dowdily-dressed Jane finds she fancies Martin
(Bret McKenzie), a lowly Aussie stable boy/carriage driver. And, predictably, her path to true love trips her up with many troublesome cobblestones.

Making an auspicious directorial debut, Jerusha Hess previously co-authored “Napoleon
Dynamite” with her husband Jared.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Austenland” is an amiable, yet flimsy 5. Too bad it’s
not a saucier, snarkier satire.

Susan Granger’s review of “Getaway” (Warner Bros./Dark Castle Entertainment)

 

In this wannabe thriller, ex-NASCAR driver Brent Magna (Ethan Hawke) steals a souped-up Ford
Shelby Mustang GT500 Super Snake from an underground parking garage in Sofia, Bulgaria. He drives it and its gun-toting owner, a spoiled American brat (Selena Gomez), in a pedal-to-the-metal race against time, following terse orders (“Drive onto the skating rink!” “Crash into the water truck!”) issued via a dashboard telephone by a mysterious villain (Jon Voight) who has kidnapped his wife Leanne (Rebecca Budig) and is holding her hostage.

Inanely and ineptly scripted by novices Sean Finegan and Gregg Maxwell Parker and directed by Courtney Solomon (“Dungeons & Dragons,” “An American Hunting”), it’s action-packed – but that’s about all that can be said for it. The iPad-wielding, computer-hacking character played by international music star/Disney Channel alumna Selena Gomez (“Spring Breakers”) is never even named, although her father’s obviously an influential investment banker.

Since all attention is focused on the interminable car chases, as the American muscle car, rigged with digital surveillance cameras inside-and-out, frantically evades an entire fleet of Euro-made vehicles, primary credit should go to veteran stunt coordinator Charles Picerni, who orchestrated the speeding mayhem, along with the mind-numbingwreckage. According to the production notes, some 130 cars were demolished to achieve the special effects.

Let’s face it: Ethan Hawke in a car with Julie Delpy, driving through sun-dappled Greece in Richard Linklater’s “Before Midnight” is far more interesting than Ethan Hawke in a car with Selena Gomez, careening around a wintry urban plaza, wreaking chaos at Christmastime.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Getaway” is a tiresome 3, incoherently spinning its
wheels  for 97 minutes with sheer stupidity.

Susan Granger’s review of “Closed Circuit” (Focus Features)

 

There’s a quirky British law that requires a defendant in high-profile cases to have two lawyers
who are forbidden to share classified information with one another, and that’s the basis of this intriguing legal thriller in which the two attorneys are former lovers.

Filmed by multiple surveillance cameras, the story begins with a horrific truck explosion that
obliterates London’s Borough Market.  Soon after, authorities arrest Turkish-born Farroukh Erdogan (Denis Moschitto), who is accused of masterminding the attack. In order to try his case, the court must consider evidence that’s deemed so sensitive by MI5 that even the defendant is not permitted to hear or read it. In this kind of situation, the accused is entitled to two separate lawyers, one to try his case in public court, and the other to serve as his Special Advocate in closed hearings – but the counselors cannot communicate with one another.

When Erdogan’s original barrister mysteriously commits suicide, Martin Rose (Eric Bana) is assigned to defend the alleged bomber. Problem is: Rose previously had an affair with Claudia Simmons-Howe (Rebecca Hall) who is already serving as the court-appointed Special Advocate. Instead of recusing themselves on ethical grounds, they’re both eager to ‘make’ their reputations by investigating and winning this case, while government forces are pursuing a speedy conviction.

Intelligently scripted by Steve Knight (“Eastern Promises,” “Dirty Pretty Things”) and tautly directed by John Crowley (“Boy A”), the challenging secrecy concept has particular relevance since a significant portion of the U.S.’s case against Bradley Manning was undisclosed in order to protect national security. Knight, Crowley and film editor Lucia Zucchetti cleverly craft the paranoid ploy of ubiquitous technological surveillance and the sanctioned invasion of privacy to underscore the threat of omnipotent parliamentary corruption.

Despite several plot contrivances, Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall are quite believable, aided and abetted by a strong supporting cast including Jim Broadbent, Ciaran Hinds, Riz Ahmed, Anne-Marie Duff and Julia Stiles.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Closed Circuit” is a subdued yet suspenseful 7, a timely
conspiracy thriller.

Susan Granger’s review of “Frozen Ground” (Lionsgate)

 

Does Nicolas Cage even read the script before he agrees to do a movie? He’s an astute actor but, more and more, it seems as if cashing the paycheck is more important to him than enhancing his career.  What else could explain “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance,” “Trespass” and “Season of the Witch,” among others, on his recent resume?  Now there’s this grim police procedural, based on a gruesome true crime case.

From 1971 to 1983, serial killer Robert Hansen raped, mutilated and murdered at least 21 young women in Alaska.  He methodically mapped where he’d buried his helpless victims after abducting them and loading them onto
his small plane, taking them to his rural cabin before hunting them down like
deer and elk.  Two weeks before resigning from his post in Anchorage, State Trooper Sgt. Jack Halcombe (Cage) was dispatched to bring the culprit to justice. His conduit turned out to be an underage, drug-addicted stripper/prostitute Cindy Paulsen (Vanessa Hudgens), who had been tortured and raped but managed to escape, despite being handcuffed. Problem is: no one else believes her when she identifies Hansen (John Cusack), the bespectacled, mild-mannered bakery shop owner, as her assailant.

Creating the fictional character of Jack Halcombe as an amalgamation of several real-life law officers, novice New Zealand writer/director Scott Walker delineates an intense, uptight, determined protagonist whom we already know will succeed in his grisly quest. For that reason, there’s little or no sense of dread or tension in this derivative, cliché-filled, wannabe thriller.

Film buffs may recall that Nic Cage and John Cusack co-starred previously in the far-better “Con Air,” while Vanessa Hudgens suddenly gets serious after “High School Musical” and “Spring Breakers.” Radha Mitchell and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson appear briefly as Halcombe’s unhappy wife and Cindy’s backstabbing pimp, respectively.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Frozen Ground” is a choppy, chilling 5, destined for a quick burial in the icy tundra.

 

 

Susan Granger’s review of “One Direction: This is Us” (Columbia Tri Star Pictures/Sony)

 

Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock first catapulted into the national spotlight in 2004, when he stuffed himself with McDonald’s hamburgers in “Super Size Me,” followed by “The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,” tweaking corporate sponsorship and product placement, and “Comic-Con, Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope.”  Those were quirky, irreverent, subversive escapades. Now he’s cashing into a global pop music phenomenon, having made an authorized, relatively staid concert documentary of the wildly popular, British/Irish boy band called One Direction.

Filmed during One Direction’s 2012-2013 world tour, it encompasses live footage from more than 100 shows, encompassing London’s 02 Arena and stops in Europe, Asia, Australia, Mexico and North America, including Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden and Los Angeles’ Staples Center. In addition, Spurlock superficially profiles the five, slouching, working-class “lads,” ranging in age from 19 to 21. There’s mop-topped Harry Styles, bland Louis Tomlinson, generous Zayn Malik (who buys his mother a house), acoustic guitar-playing Niall Horan and heavily-accented Liam Payne – chronicling their unlikely beginning in 2010, when they were matched as mates by production Svengali Simon Cowell on “The X-Factor” competition, their wildly enthusiastic fans, and their adjustment to fame and fortune.  Like having Chris Rock, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Martin Scorsese drop by, exuding enthusiasm, and reportedly selling more than 13 million albums worldwide, including their 2012 hit “Take Me Home.”

Unlike other pop music documentaries, there’s no drinking, smoking, drugs or sex.  Hard partying seems to be verboten, along with any mention of Harry Styles’ brief fling with songbird Taylor Swift. But – then again – it is duly ‘authorized’ under clean-cut Pepsi sponsorship and was vetted not only by Columbia TriStar but also by Syco Records, which is Simon Cowell’s production company, along with the quintet’s management. So make of that what you will.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 1, “One Direction: This is Us” is a squealing, screaming, somewhat insipid 6, a glossy, promotional concept that’s overly enhanced by unnecessary amplification.

 

Susan Granger’s review of “You’re Next” (Snoot Entertainment)

 

What happens when filmmakers combine a dysfunctional family reunion with the random violence of a home invasion thriller?  You get a gory, late-summer slasher, and this one is not too bad.

It’s lucky that Erin (Sharni Vinson from “Step Up 3D”), a resourceful teaching assistant, was raised
in a survivalist compound in the Australian Outback because she’s about to meet her boyfriend/former professor Crispian’s (A.J. Bowen from “The Signal”) squabbling family and significant others as they gather to celebrate his parents’ 35^th wedding anniversary at their posh, English Tudor-style manor house.  After a shocking prologue that introduces the masked intruders, the Davisons’ isolated country estate is suddenly invaded by unknown attackers who are wearing weird animal masks and wielding crossbows. What Crispian’s mother Aubrey (Barbara Crampton from “Re-Animator”), father Paul (Rob Moran from “Hall Pass”), sister Aimee (Amy Seimetz from “Upstream Color”) and feuding brothers Felix (Nicholas Tucci) and Drake (Joe Swanberg, who directed “Drinking Buddies”) don’t realize is that their neighbors (Larry Fessenden, Kate Lyn Shiel) have been slaughtered…and, according to the writing in blood on the wall, they’re next on the siege slate. As time passes, the body count mounts.

Screenwriter/producer Simon Barrett (“Dead Birds”), director/editor Adam Wingard (“A Horrible Way to Die,” “V/H/S”) and cinematographer Andrew Palermo (“V/H/S”) keep the satirical shocks
coming, playing much of the inherent creepiness for laughs, although the one-by-one elimination “And Then There Were None” plot is utterly predictable.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “You’re Next” is a fright flick 5, filled with pointless
carnage.

Susan Granger’s review of “Out of the Clear Blue Sky” (Screenvision/Area 23a)

 

On September 11^th, there’s a one-night, nationwide theatrical event, “Out of the Clear Blue Sky,” in which documentary filmmaker Danielle Gardner relates the story of Cantor Fitzgerald, the Wall Street bond trading firm that lost 658 employees during the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan.

Formed in 1945 by Bernard Gerald Cantor and John Fitzgerald, the corporate headquarters occupied the 101^st to 105^th floors of the North Tower, above the impact zone of the hijacked airliner. Cantor Fitzgerald lost more than two-thirds of its 960 personnel that dreadful day, representing one-fourth of the 3,000 people who died.

President/CEO Howard Lutnick was out of the office, taking his son to his first day of kindergarten, but his brother Gary was among those killed. This documentary traces two interconnected stories:  the staggering impact on the bond business and the heartbreaking relationship between Howard Lutnick and the distraught, grieving families.

While Lutnick pledged to distribute 25% of the firm’s profits for the next five years to victims’
families and committed to pay for 10 years of healthcare, in order to do that he felt forced to suspend the deceased workers’ paychecks.  Lutnick was vilified in the press.  Yet in 2006, the company completed its promise, having distributed $180 million, along with an additional $17 million from a
relief fund administered by Lutnick’s sister, Edie.

In conjunction with the Port Authority of New York, Cantor Fitzgerald filed a civil lawsuit against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for allegedly providing money to the Al Qaeda hijackers, but most of the
claims against Saudi Arabia were dismissed on January 18, 2005.

Having lost her brother Doug that fateful day, Danielle Gardner was determined to expose the very real, mostly unknown, private side to that very public experience, noting: “This film inspires a strong reaction in our audiences and compelling post-screening conversation and commentary.”

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Out of the Clear Blue Sky” is a compelling 8, an
insider’s poignant view of the harrowing tragedy.