Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Crisp Criticism - "Ted 2", "Minions", "Far from the Madding Crowd", "Live from New York"

by
Julien Faddoul













Ted 2 *

Ted, the taking teddy bear, must prove he is a person in a court of law.
Vaguely amusing sequel, much the same as before, with a humongous cast and about 1/5 of the jokes landing, though Wahlberg is at his most annoying here.

d – Seth MacFarlane
w – Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin, Wellesley Wild
ph – Michael Barrett
pd – Stephen J. Lineweaver
m – Walter Murphy
ed – Jeff Freeman
cos – Cindy Evans

p – Seth MacFarlane, Jason Clark, John Jacobs, Scott Stuber

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Seth MacFarlane, Amanda Seyfried, Jessica Barth, Patrick Warburton, Morgan Freeman, Michael Dorn, Dennis Haysbert, Lexi Atkins, Sam J. Jones, Nana Visitor, Tina Grimm

Monday, June 15, 2015

Inside Out (2015/US)

by
Julien Faddoul














**** (4 stars)

d – Pete Docter
co-d – Ronnie Del Carmen
w – Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley
ph – Kim White, Patrick Lin
pd – Ralph Eggleston
m – Michael Giacchino
ed – Kevin Nolting

P – Jonus Rivera

Cast: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Bill Hader, Mindy Kaling, Richard Kind, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan


John Lasseter, the Chief Creative Officer of Pixar, the director of five of the company’s films and the Father of computer animated feature filmmaking, has been declaring throughout the promotion of Pixar’s new film Inside Out that “when people look back at the films of Pixar, Inside Out might be seen as the most important”. Mr Lasseter has said some unwise things throughout his career but this isn’t one of them. Inside Out is a true masterwork. A film of immense wisdom and vision and one that, like all great films, can change the way we interact and empathize with one another.

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Jurassic World (2015/US)

by
Julien Faddoul














* (1 star)


d – Colin Trevorrow
w – Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Colin Trevorrow, Derek Connolly   (Based on the Characters Created by Michael Crichton)
ph – John Schwartzman
pd – Ed Verreaux
m – Michael Giacchino
ed – Kevin Stitt
cos – April Ferry, Daniel Orlandi

p – Patrick Crowley, Frank Marshall

Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Irrfan Khan, Vincent D'Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Jake Johnson, Omar Sy, BD Wong, Judy Greer, Lauren Lapkus, Brian Tee, Katie McGrath, Andy Buckley, Eric Edelstein


Were dinosaurs ever really that interesting? Few subjects of science are as fascinating to the public as dinosaurs. The study of dinosaurs stretches our imaginations, gives us new perspectives on time and space, and invites us to discover worlds very different from our modern Earth. So why is that they are such stodgy adversaries in movies?

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Crisp Criticism - "Hot Pursuit", "Mommy", "The Emperor's New Clothes"


by
Julien Faddoul













Hot Pursuit

An uptight by-the-book cop must protect the widow of a drug boss from crooked cops and gunmen.
Astonishingly dumb comedy where the clumsy and imbecilic behavior of the characters makes one reassess their life and wonder whether the concept of “comedy” has not completely dilapidated. Enter at your own peril, people.

d – Anne Fletcher
w – David Feeney, John Quaintance
ph – Oliver Stapleton
pd – Nelson Coates
ed – Priscilla Nedd-Friendly
cos – Catherine Marie Thomas

p – Dana Fox, Bruna Papandrea, Reese Witherspoon

Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Sofia Vergara, Jim Gaffigan, Robert Kazinsky, Joaquin Cosio, John Carroll Lynch


Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Crisp Criticism - "Entourage", "Aloha", "Aloft"

by
Julien Faddoul 














Entourage

An elongated episode of the TV Series Entourage.
Abysmal waste of time and money; as with the television series, the basic concept of trashing insider Hollywood with male immaturity is no longer fresh or barely even funny.

d – Doug Ellin
w – Doug Ellin, Rob Weiss   (Based on the TV Series by Doug Ellin)
ph – Steven Fierberg
pd – Chase Harlan
ed – Jeff Groth
cos – Olivia Miles

p – Stephen Levinson, Mark Wahlberg, Rob Weiss

Cast: Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, Jeremy Piven, Perrey Reeves, Rex Lee, Debi Mazar, Constance Zimmer, Billy Bob Thornton, Haley Joel Osment, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Kid Cudi

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Crisp Criticism - "Tomorrowland", "San Andreas", "Clouds of Sils Maria"

by
Julien Faddoul













Tomorrowland *

Bound by a shared destiny, a bright, optimistic teen bursting with scientific curiosity and a former boy-genius inventor jaded by disillusionment embark on a danger-filled mission to unearth the secrets of an enigmatic place somewhere in time and space that exists in their collective memory as Tomorrowland.
A substantial and extremely peculiar film, and one that cannot be separated from the personal foresight accumulated by its brilliant director. Produced on a large Disney-like scale with a nostalgic, Amblin-like tone, the film, high on action-adventure and brimming with ideas, professes the effulgent future that can come from idealism and application, and one that humanity seems to be getting in its own way of. But the film asseverates this so bluntly and without any modulation that everything else evaporates (particularly in its last act). In the end, the purport is less inspirational than it is preachy; the experience less of a movie than a lecture. It’s a disappointing film, but not in the usual way.

d – Brad Bird
w – Damon Lindelof, Brad Bird, Jeff Jensen
ph – Claudio Miranda
pd – Scott Chambliss
m – Michael Giacchino
ed – Walter Murch, Craig Wood
cos – Jeffrey Kurland

p – Damon Lindelof, Brad Bird, Jeffrey Chernov

Cast: George Clooney, Hugh Laurie, Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy, Tim McGraw, Kathryn Hahn, Keegan-Michael Key, Chris Bauer, Thomas Robinson, Pierce Gagnon