August 28, 2012 | 10:26 pm

Review: ‘Lawless’

Posted by Joan Alperin-Schwartz

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Prohibition, gangsters, brothers, Virginia, moonshine, a sadistic lawman, violence, lust, love and family…That’s some of the things you’ll find in ‘Lawless’ directed by John Hillcoat (‘The Road’) and written by songwriter/musician, Nick Cave (The Proposition), based on Matt Bondurant’s book ‘The Wettest County in the World’, a fictionalized account of his family.

The film tells the story of the infamous Bondurant Brothers, Forrest, (Tom Hardy), Howard (Jason Clarke) and the youngest sibling, Jack (Shia LaBeouf) who made and sold moonshine in the 30’s. They lived in the mountains of Franklin County and were as different as brothers could be.

Jack, the ambitious one, dreams of expensive suits, fast cars, and getting it on with the very pretty and very religious, Bertha (Mia Wasikowka).

His bro, Howard, who survived the Great War, is the more laid back of the three, while Forrest, who nearly died of the Spanish Flu, is known far and wide as being immortal. He’s also a guy you don’t want to mess with.

Times are tough and jobs are scarce in these parts, but the Bondurants are entrepreneurs and have built a thriving business by concocting an intense and popular brand of moonshine.

But Franklin County’s bootlegging days are about to end, with the arrival of Special Deputy, Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce) from Chicago.

Rakes is a vicious, sadistic dude with a bad hairdo. He’s determined to bring law to this lawless place, no matter what he has to do…Translation…He’ll kill, maim, torture anyone who gets in his way.

And the Bondorants, who bow down to no one, are not about to let this power hungry, sexually conflicted jerk, mess with their way of life.

‘Lawless’ is a beautifully shot, edgy, exciting, violent, touching portrait of a time in our history when gangsters ruled the city streets, and outlaws were the stuff legends were made of.

Everyone in the cast was excellent, with Tom Hardy being the standout. He created such an interesting, complex character…A man filled with rage but at the same time, had an equally intense vulnerability. This was especially apparent in his scenes with Jessica Chastain, who played, Maggie, an emotionally wounded burlesque dancer.

Also worth mentioning is Gary Oldman as gangster, Floyd Banner, who is both a friend and foe to the Bondurants. Even though he appears in the film sporatically, Oldman’s presence is felt throughout.

‘Lawless’ which opens in theatres, Wednesday August 29, 2012, received 4 1/2 bagels out of 5. I absolutely loved everything about it and John actually liked it as well.

Check out our video to see more of our thoughts and watch me try and convince John that his bagel rating needs some adjustment.

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August 22, 2012 | 3:59 pm

Review: “Premium Rush”

Posted by Joan Alperin-Schwartz

Sometimes a film is 100 per cent entertainment…That is definitely the case with “Premium Rush” written and directed by David Koepp (writer of “Spiderman” & “Mission Impossible” etc).

This film is one big roller coaster ride…one that you’ll want to keep riding, right up to the end.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is Wilee, ex law student, turned bike messenger, extraordinaire. He spends his days dodging speeding cars, crazed cab drivers and 8 million New Yorkers, hurrying to get wherever, and…he loves every minute of it.

To get an idea about who Wilee is…His bike is super lightweight, with only one gear, and…no brakes. Wilee had them removed, so now’s he’s the fastest bike messenger in New York City.

Wilee loves to tell fellow bike messenger, Vanessa, (Dania Ramiez) his on-again, off-again girlfriend, that putting on a suit equals death for him. That’s why, he’s decided at least for now, not to take the bar exam.

Our speed demon lives for thrills and soon after the movie begins, Wilee gets more thrills than he ever could have imagined when his boss, gives him one last job to do, at the end of his shift.

Assignment is simple. Pick up a small envelope in the Village and deliver it across town…The job has to be completed in…90 minutes…It’s a…Premium Rush.

Piece of cake right? Not when you have an over the top crazy, degenerate gambler, crooked cop, Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon) on your heels trying to stop you.

I must say that, Shannon is absolutely memorizing in this part. There’s a scene, where he’s playing the chinese tile gambling game, Pai Gow and trust me, you won’t be able to take your eyes off of him. He is that good.

‘Premium Rush’ is one of the most exciting films I’ve seen in a long time. The stunts and the action will have you sitting on the edge of your seat. The characters, including…

Wole Parks as Manny, a rival messenger with a super expensive bike and a super set of biceps and Jamie Chung (Nima) are all excellent.

I gave “Premium Rush” which opens in theatres, Friday, August 24th, 4 bagels out of 5 and John came pretty close with his score. Yes, a film he actually liked.

Check out our video to see more of our thoughts

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August 16, 2012 | 6:42 pm

Review: “Sparkle”

Posted by Joan Alperin-Schwartz

No matter how hard you try not too, ‘Sparkle’ directed by Salim Akil, based on the 1970’s film of the same name, will always remind you of Miss Whitney Houston’s premature and very sad death. Whitney died just three months after filming this picture.

“Sparkle” takes place in Detroit, Michigan…The year is 1967 and Motown is King.

Houston plays Emma, a strict, church-going, single mother, who lives with her three daughters…Sparkle (Jordin Sparks) an aspiring singer/songwriter…Dee (Tika Sumpter) who dreams of becoming a doctor and…Sister, the beautiful, super sexy, divorced, wild child.

When Emma was younger, she pursued a career as a singer, but never made it. This almost killed her so now, she’s determined that her daughters, never get anywhere near the music business.

That’s gonna be hard, since the girls, have already formed a group called ‘Sister and the Sisters’ and they’ve been sneaking out every night, to perform at local clubs.
It’s at one of these clubs, that the girls meet, Stix (Derek Luke) who jumps on board as their manager.

It’s also at one of these gigs, that Sister meets a local celebrity, black comedian, Satin (Mike Epps) who performs only in front of white audiences and has major anger issues. Can you blame him? His own people won’t accept him.

Anyway, Sister winds up marrying Mr. bad temper guy and as the girls’ career start to take off, her life and her marriage fall apart.
What follows, is the usual amount of heartbreak, regret, anger, redemption and a whole lot of great music and wonderful performances by the cast, especially from…Ms Houston.

She sings ‘His Eyes Is On The Sparrow’, in front of her church congregation, and even though her voice is just a shadow of its former self, her passion brought me to tears and I’m sure it will do the same to you.

Jordin Sparks is wonderful when she sings, but her acting is just okay. Sparks hasn’t developed the skills she needs to give a deep interesting performance as an actress.
As I mentioned in our video, “Sparkle” is what I call “Dreamgirls” light, but it’s still good enough for me to give it 4 bagels out of 5. It opens Friday August 17, 2012

Check out our video to see more of our thoughts and John’s rating. Hint…He actually liked it. Let us know what you think.

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August 15, 2012 | 4:53 pm

Review: “2 Days In New York”

Posted by Joan Alperin-Schwartz

We first met the character Marion (Julie Delpy) in the film “2 Days In Paris” along with her real life boyfriend at the time, Adam Goldberg.

Now years later, Marion, a photographer about to have her first gallery show, is living happily ever after in New York City, with her boyfriend Mingus (Chris Rock) a journalist/on air radio personality and their respective children.

One day, out of the blue, Marion’s super jolly father, Albert (played by her real life dad, Albert Delpy), her oversexed sister, Rose (Alexia Landeau) and her pot smoking, obnoxious ex boyfriend, Manu, come for a visit.

To say that Marion and Mingus’s world is turned upside down by this eccentric family, would be an understatement.

But for Marion, the timing of the visit couldn’t be worse. Old wounds are opened up. The recent death of her mother plus Marion’s intense love-hate relationship with her super judgemental sister, Rose.

On top of that, Marion is nervous about her show, where she’s planning on aunctioning off her SOUL for $10,000. (It’s a statement) Oh she’s also being driven by loud pipes and her annoying neighbors, but hey, it’s New York, right?

And then there’s Mingus’. He’s having imaginary conversations with Obama, trying to be a good father to his kid and communicate with Marion’s french speaking dad.

Delpy co-wrote “2 Days in New York” with fellow actress Landeau and she directed the film as well.

This is a funny, quirky, touching comedy and it works on every level. I predict you’ll walk out of the theatre thinking…your family is not that much different from Delpy’s. There are times they make you scream, drive you crazy, even make you cry, but in the end, you never stop loving them.

“2 Days In New York’ opens in theatres Friday August 17, 2012 and definitely deserves the 3 1/2 bagels I gave it. John on the other hand, was less generous. Check out our video to see his thoughts and more of mine.

Please SUBSCRIBE to our channel and LIKE us on our Two Jews On Film facebook page. Thx everyone…and let us know your thoughts on ‘2 Days In New York’.

 

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August 7, 2012 | 9:55 pm

Review: “The Bourne Legacy”

Posted by Joan Alperin-Schwartz

So what happens when Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass decide that they no longer want to be a part of the super successful franchise known as BOURNE?

Do the producers say fine and walk away from their billion dollar cash cow or find another way to keep it going? Silly question, right?

Which brings us to ‘The Bourne Legacy’ written and directed by Tony Gilroy (writer of the previous Bourne films)and starring Jeremy Renner, as the new super spy, that the evil CIA wants to kill. Sound familiar? Of course it does and that’s the problem.

You’ve seen this same plot before…many, many times, before.

When the film opens, we meet super soldier, Aaron Cross (Jeremey Renner) in the wilds of Alaska, completing a solo training mission. We know he’s a super soldier because he can swim in freezing cold water and punch out a big grey wolf with his bare hands. (Liam Neeson sure could have used his help in ‘The Grey’)

But before you start envying Cross’s super powers, you might want to know that in order for him to stay…super, he needs a daily dose of pills…One blue to keep his brain enhanced and one green to keep his biceps from deflating…And his supply of drugs is rapidly dwindling.

Too make matters worse… The CIA wants Aaron dead.

It seems their little secret program, Outcome, designed to create super soldiers has become infected by the arrival of Jason Bourne in New York City. The guy in charge of Outcome, Eric Byers (Edward Norton) decides that it’s best to kill everyone associated with this claudestine operation.

Personally I find that a little extreme. Anyway…

The CIA being the CIA has no trouble knocking off all of Outcome’s participants, except of course for Aaron and…

Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz) a genetic scientist who worked on developing the drugs that turned these everyday dudes into SUPERMEN. One of my favorite scenes is when Dr. Marta gets a visit from some not so friendly peeps at her home.

Lastly, how could you have an action film without the male and female leads hooking up? No way!

So of course, Soldier meets doctor and together, we watch them evade the CIA, while at the same time, figuring out a way for Aaron to keep his super powers.

The film does have some exciting moments. There are plenty of car chases, fight scenes, gun battles and crazy stunts, involving leaping and jumping, but in the end ‘The Bourne Legacy’ lacks originality and except for the brief glimpse we get into Renner’s backstory, interesting character development.

Speaking of ‘the end’...The last 45 minutes of the film is filled with an extremely long motorcycle chase and an ending, that is flat and exists only to let the audience know…There will be a sequel.

I gave ‘The Bourne Legacy’ which opens in theatres, Friday August 10th 2012 only 2 bagels out of 5 and John’s score was even less than mine. Check out our video to see us toast our two year anniversary on YOUTUBE.

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August 2, 2012 | 4:58 pm

Review: “Total Recall” 2012

Posted by Joan Alperin-Schwartz

This is an action thriller about reality and memory. The film, directed by Len Wiseman (Underworld) is inspired by Philip K. Dick’s short story ‘We Can Remember It For You Wholesale’.

The time is the future…And it’s a very bleak one indeed. Most of the earth, thanks to war, is now uninhabitable. There’s only the United Federation of Britain, where the ‘haves’ live and the Colony where the ‘have-nots’ reside.

It’s here we meet factory worker, Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) who even though he has a very hot wife (Kate Beckinsale) whom he loves, the dude is very unhappy. He feels something is missing from his life and wow, is he ever right.

So one evening, unable to sleep, he takes a stroll around town and finds himself at RECALL, a company that can make any fantasy seem like it’s reality.

Apparently, Doug always wanted to be a super spy. Just as he’s about to be injected with a magic serum, that would make his dream come true, cops burst in with their guns blazing and to Doug’s surprise…he takes them all out.

Imagine that…From there, it’s all thrills and spills as Doug is hunted by a synthethic police force, controlled by the evil, Chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston)

Lucky for our hero, he has the help of rebel fighter (Jessica Biel) who not only looks great in jeans, can kick some serious butt, but who also works for the underground resistance led by Matthias (Bill Nighy).

The line between fantasy and reality gets blurred and the fate of the world hangs in the balance, as Quaid, tries to discover his true identity, his true love and his true fate.
Speaking of having a lot on your plate…

‘Total Recall’ is very different from the 1990 film starring the ‘Arnold’ and personally, I like this version much better.

The visuals are stunning and the action, even though at times, repetitive, is fun.

So if you’re in the market for an entertaining film, then go see ‘Total Recall’ which opens in theatres Friday, August 3, 2012.

I gave it 3 bagels out of 5…John, gave it a much lower rating. Check out our video to see us disagreeing, and let us know what you think about this film.

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Thanks everyone

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