Natural Born Killers - 4 stars out of 10

Natural Born Killers - 4 stars out of 10

Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers" is a long way off from "Platoon" and "JFK."  The film is violence in its purest form, focusing on the media's glorification of serial killers and the public's enthusiastic reaction.  In concept, it sounds like the film makes a really interesting, poignant statement.  Unfortunately, this statement gets buried under layers of dead bodies and gallons of blood.  The film sets out to desensitize its audience with an overwhelming amount of death until it becomes meaningless but, once the carnage has ceased, it feels just as offensive as when it began.  Stylistically, the film goes in a few interesting directions.  The most interesting (but also the most awkward) is the telling of Mallory's sexually abusive childhood in the form of a 1960's sitcom.  Complete with a reactive studio audience, dialogue about spousal abuse and child molestation is turned into a "joke."  It becomes very uncomfortable when sexual innuendo from the father to his daughter are met with laughter and applause.  Stone also mixes mediums, shooting through a variety of lenses and filters from many different angles that are all mashed together to create a sporadic feel.  Even though I wasn't crazy about the film, I have to applaude Juliette Lewis for her interpretation of Mallory.  I love her rapidly changing attitude like when the guy dances with her in the diner and the events that unravel on top of the Corvette.  Robert Downey Jr. is also incredible as the tv personality Wayne Gale, slowly progressing from sanity to worshipper or Mickey and Mallory's killing philosophy.  "Natural Born Killers" has an important moral buried deeply under its violence and profanity but I cannot guarentee that you will be able to find it, even if you intently sit through these two hours of relentless violence with a magnifying glass.

National Lampoon's European Vacation - 4 stars out of 10

National Lampoon's European Vacation - 4 stars out of 10

"National Lampoon's European Vacation" has some of the most classic moments of the series, but as a whole it is not their finest effort.  The writers had a lot of humorous scenarios but simply did not tie them together well.  The "Pig in a Poke" is a great running gag, then of course you have "Big Ben, Parliament." and Stonehenge, meeting the wrong family in Germany and mistaking the German dancing for fighting, and best of all, the contrast between British people being unreasonbly nice and French people being stereotypically mean.  In concept, the film should be a success but the execution missed its mark.  Many of the scenes (even some of the funny ones) tend to drag on.  There were way too many shopping montages (and by too many, I mean the one that was in there).  The hotel sequences were unnecessarily long, and so was any scene involving Audrey being upset about her boyfriend.  I understand that, even with all of the dragging on, the film was only 90 minutes.  But that means that they needed another good parallel storyline instead of a bunch of drawn-out sequences that are searching for a plot.  I like Rusty's search for a European girl, I thought that the entire plot of the theif was clever and underemphasized, and the greatest part of the entire film is Eric Idle (from "Monty Python") as the mangled bike rider that keeps appearing throughout the film.  This film is good for a few laughs (as you can always expect with Chevy Chase), particularly if you have been to these places in Europe, but I wouldn't attentively watching this film if you're looking for a solid plot or interesting character development.

Absence of Malice - 6 stars out of 10

Absence of Malice - 6 stars out of 10

"Absense of Malice" is a slow-moving vehicle for Sally Field to shine.  I walked into this film with high expectations (as I do with any film with Paul Newman's name on it) and, while the pace drags the film down at times, it is redeemed through suspensful twists and profound statements about the power of the press.  I was a bit confused by Newman's performance.  There were times that he really took command of the screen (particularly when he assaulted Field), but most of the time he seemed very bland.  Maybe it was just the character, but this wasn't his strongest showing.  Field, on the other hand, gives one of her finer performances.  This film makes me want to see more of her earlier films, as most of my exposure to her is in her older roles like "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "Forrest Gump."  I don't know why, but her haircut is so cute that it really gives her that innocent image, even though she's being sneaky and gumptious!  The shock value of the different circumstances surrounding Melinda Dillon's character moves the emotional side of the story forward, particularly her last involvement in the story that literally made my jaw drop (I'm trying so hard to avoid spoilers!)  Overall, this film is a good story with two leading characters that you will care about and, in spite of its slow-moving pace, it is definitely worth a watch.

Safe House (2012) - 3 stars out of 10

Safe House (2012) - 3 stars out of 10

Denzel Washington is one of my favorite action movie stars, particularly as a psychologically superior character, but "Safe House" just didn't do it for me.  The film has a good twist but an unoriginal plot.  They should have focused on the manipulative abilities of the main character instead of making it "all action, all the time."  They could have really capitalized on this by having more that 10 minutes of this movie take place in the safe house.  Granted, it's not as if this film is called "Safe House" but... oh wait.  I don't understand why this game of cat and mouse had to take place over and over again.  Instead, they could have developed Washington's character in the safe house and limited the explosions to two awesome chase scenes instead of a dozen.  The amount of destruction is so over the top that it made it difficult to suspend my disbelief.   Ryan Reynolds was okay, Vera Farmiga was underused, and they stole their ending from "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol."  I'd definitely encourage you to watch "John Q" or any other Denzel action film before this one.

Best In Show - 9 stars out of 10

Best In Show - 9 stars out of 10

"Best in Show" is a quirky, overdramatic look into the dog show circuit and its over-exuberant participants (and I am not talking about the dogs).  Master Mockumentarian Christopher Guest (the six-fingered man from "The Princess Bride") redefines comedy at the expense of his canine-crazy characters.  This film succeeds because of it's depth of different characters and the perfect cast to take each of these characters over the top.  The script (written by Guest and Eugene Levy) is hysterical.  Whether it is a nonchalant conversation about the different types of nuts or a woman freaking out about the difference between a bumble bee dog toy and a fish, each line is carefully crafted to each character to both enhance their absurdity and make us laugh.  Guest has assembled a cast of character actors that each takes their role over the top for a high-energy performance.  Guest's amazing cast includes himself, Eugene Levy (American Pie), Catherine O'Hara (Home Alone) , John Michael Higgins (Arrested Development), Jennifer Coolidge (Legally Blonde), Jane Lynch (Glee), Larry Miller (Princess Diaries), and Fred Willard (Anchorman).  This mockumentary never goes too far.  Its dirty moments always stay within the confines of funny and never become uncomfortable.  If you enjoy "The Office" or Guest's other mockumentaries, this character-driven celebration of idiocy is sure to leave you smiling.

The Prince and the Showgirl - 4 stars out of 10

The Prince and the Showgirl - 4 stars out of 10

"The Prince and the Showgirl" has a nice cast but a bad script.  This film moves so slowly that it would lose a long-distance race against a snail.  It isn't a problem with the story as much as the scenes are all just 5 minutes too long.  The film is only interesting if you have seen "My Week with Marilyn" and can understand everything that was going on behind the scenes during this film shoot.  Other than that, the actors are the main draw for this film.  Marilyn Monroe is lovely, particularly the scene where she dances in her room to the music outside, Laurence Olivier is excellent as the Grand Duke, and Sybil Thorndike's interpretation of the queen is great.  For me, the only thing that made this film worthwhile was the moment in the carriage where Olivier's scowl slowly and subtlely transformed into a smile and Monroe slowly caught on to his happiness.  This truly may be the best 10 seconds in cinema.  But other than that... there were a lot of issues on the set of this film (see "My Week with Marilyn" as a reference) and it shows through the lack of pacing in this film.  I wouldn't recommend this unless you are a movie buff who is making their way through the greatest moments in cinema, in which case you must see that moment in the carriage.  Otherwise, skip to "Some Like It Hot" for your Monroe fix.