MACHETE Review

'Machete' succeeds in what it is trying to be. An extension of Rodriguez and Tarantino's 'Grindhouse'. It is over-the-top and ridiculous but it is supposed to be. It makes little sense and sadly turns into a stage for Rodriguez to harp on the illegal immigrant issue. We come to 'Machete' looking for nothing more than moronic fun and an exploitation film of epic proportions we are not looking to be taught a lesson, but are indeed given that as the movie drags to its highlight of a conclusion that promises two more films. Danny Trejo is not your ideal leading man and is never as full of charisma as we'd like to imagine or as that fake trailer set him up to be. I guess that is where I find the disappointment in the full feature. As a gimmick between the Grindhouse features it was one of pure hilarity and campiness. It was one of the best parts of the double feature and as with most things in Hollywood, if something can churn out more money it will likely be made to do so. With that in mind 'Machete' is a funny exploitation film, it is no 'Black Dynamite' but it is fair enough, it just doesn't live up to the expectations those who were looking forward to it, held for it. It does boast a pretty awesome cast though. Besides Trejo we have DeNiro as a corrupt senator who has a hard vendetta against illegal aliens. Michelle Rodriguez is criminally underused here as the luminous She. I would have rather seen her in the Jessica Alba role if it meant she received more screen time, but it was good to see her sport an eye-patch and kick some butt in the final showdown between the Mexican "Network" and the secret agency that DeNiros character has created to kill them as they cross the border. I simply cannot accept Alba as a serious actress. Even when she tries in such films as this and 'The Killer Inside Me'. She never comes off as credible or accurate, just as a pretty girl attempting to act like a grown-up and here a hard ass that we know isn't anything close to the truth. Jeff Fahey is the only one here who seems to get what the makers are exactly going for. He is over the top in his delivery and actions though Steven Seagal does a pretty good job at doing an even worse impersonation of his usual persona. Cheech Marin is added in for a few laughs as is Don Johnson and the sight of Lindsay Lohan in a nun outfit is the most bizarre and ridiculous thing you will see on a movie screen all year. I wouldn't watch 'Machete' again and I don't know that I would recommend it to anyone, but it is a rather fun and campy ride. One i enjoyed but wouldn't care to re-live.

MACHETE Review

'Machete' succeeds in what it is trying to be. An extension of Rodriguez and Tarantino's 'Grindhouse'. It is over-the-top and ridiculous but it is supposed to be. It makes little sense and sadly turns into a stage for Rodriguez to harp on the illegal immigrant issue. We come to 'Machete' looking for nothing more than moronic fun and an exploitation film of epic proportions we are not looking to be taught a lesson, but are indeed given that as the movie drags to its highlight of a conclusion that promises two more films. Danny Trejo is not your ideal leading man and is never as full of charisma as we'd like to imagine or as that fake trailer set him up to be. I guess that is where I find the disappointment in the full feature. As a gimmick between the Grindhouse features it was one of pure hilarity and campiness. It was one of the best parts of the double feature and as with most things in Hollywood, if something can churn out more money it will likely be made to do so. With that in mind 'Machete' is a funny exploitation film, it is no 'Black Dynamite' but it is fair enough, it just doesn't live up to the expectations those who were looking forward to it, held for it. It does boast a pretty awesome cast though. Besides Trejo we have DeNiro as a corrupt senator who has a hard vendetta against illegal aliens. Michelle Rodriguez is criminally underused here as the luminous She. I would have rather seen her in the Jessica Alba role if it meant she received more screen time, but it was good to see her sport an eye-patch and kick some butt in the final showdown between the Mexican "Network" and the secret agency that DeNiros character has created to kill them as they cross the border. I simply cannot accept Alba as a serious actress. Even when she tries in such films as this and 'The Killer Inside Me'. She never comes off as credible or accurate, just as a pretty girl attempting to act like a grown-up and here a hard ass that we know isn't anything close to the truth. Jeff Fahey is the only one here who seems to get what the makers are exactly going for. He is over the top in his delivery and actions though Steven Seagal does a pretty good job at doing an even worse impersonation of his usual persona. Cheech Marin is added in for a few laughs as is Don Johnson and the sight of Lindsay Lohan in a nun outfit is the most bizarre and ridiculous thing you will see on a movie screen all year. I wouldn't watch 'Machete' again and I don't know that I would recommend it to anyone, but it is a rather fun and campy ride. One i enjoyed but wouldn't care to re-live.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK Review

We will never know the whole truth and nothing but that truth, so after walking out of David Fincher's much hyped 'The Social Network' we are left wondering how much of this intriguing tale is actually fact. The basics have to be right? The people are all so believable, they aren't characters, they're just real and the events, it all must have happened just like that right? The thing about it is, Fincher's film is so straightforward it is hard to believe that any of this is an embellishment of the truth or at least some peoples version of it. Either way, everything you have heard about the movie is probably true. What makes the fuss around this film is not the usual reasons you talk about movies-there are no stars, no epic sequences of amazing camera work or special effects-what we have here that is so intriguing is the relevance of the story. Relevance, it's the biggest thing 'The Social Network' has on its side, and that is a very good thing because it is very well made and completely enthralling. As our main protagonist and creator of facebook, Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg with a fury of quick wit, intelligence and pure snarkiness. It is ironic that this squirelly college sophomore who turns to blogging to take his frustrations out after being dumped, this obviously socially awkward fella who has as many friends as you have fingers on one hand created the biggest social networking site in history. In that, is where we find our interest, in his accomplishment is our daily lives. As I write this review it is on the site that is the subject of the movie-that sounds all so backwards but proves how much our lives are dominated by what this man, this teenager at the time, did. From the opening scene, which chronicles the aforementioned break-up, we immediately are fed the tone and technique of the film. It is dialogue and character driven, it is within these interesting conversation that smart people have that we are told the story of the origin of facebook, the events that influenced the site, the people who were lied to and back stabbed along the way. Fincher shoots the movie very steady, no moving camera tricks, just static capturing the performances. He puts them in neutral colors and gives different points of view over one coherent story as to how this all went down. Who knew the creation of a website could be so rich with drama and deceit. Writer Aaron Sorkin delivers scene after scene that overlap and reveal the true colors of every person on screen. It is pure poetry and the actors, who have a huge job on this film, do the writing justice and bring this story to life. Timberlake is finally given a credible platform to stretch his acting skills and as Napster co-founder Sean Parker we can see him playing somewhat of himself, but with more of a flair for the attention getter. On the other end is Andrew Garfield who, after Eisenberg is the most affecting. As Eduardo Saverin he is our most empathetic character and the one we hate to see betrayed, the one we side with in the small intervals of attorney delegations, no matter how much we want to believe Zuckerberg did this without hurting anyone, the proof isn't there for that, but his character is much deeper than the jerk genius he comes off as on the surface. Armie Hammer also deserves to be mentioned for playing both Winklevoss twins who say they had the original idea that Zuckerberg drew on to create the facebook. There is so much to say about the film I can hardly express it all here, but that the goal of it was to be cool, to see what others are up to, to know who's in a relationship and who's not anymore, that the whole thing grew from the need for revenge on a scorned lover, of not feeling included or elite. It is what the world is about, it touches on so many human emotions and it is all filtered through a page of your very own on the Internet. It is a cultural phenomenon and we are lucky to have a film that chronicles how something big can come from the most basic emotions that we all share. It is jolting, effective, complex and nothing like you probably thought.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK Review

We will never know the whole truth and nothing but that truth, so after walking out of David Fincher's much hyped 'The Social Network' we are left wondering how much of this intriguing tale is actually fact. The basics have to be right? The people are all so believable, they aren't characters, they're just real and the events, it all must have happened just like that right? The thing about it is, Fincher's film is so straightforward it is hard to believe that any of this is an embellishment of the truth or at least some peoples version of it. Either way, everything you have heard about the movie is probably true. What makes the fuss around this film is not the usual reasons you talk about movies-there are no stars, no epic sequences of amazing camera work or special effects-what we have here that is so intriguing is the relevance of the story. Relevance, it's the biggest thing 'The Social Network' has on its side, and that is a very good thing because it is very well made and completely enthralling. As our main protagonist and creator of facebook, Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg with a fury of quick wit, intelligence and pure snarkiness. It is ironic that this squirelly college sophomore who turns to blogging to take his frustrations out after being dumped, this obviously socially awkward fella who has as many friends as you have fingers on one hand created the biggest social networking site in history. In that, is where we find our interest, in his accomplishment is our daily lives. As I write this review it is on the site that is the subject of the movie-that sounds all so backwards but proves how much our lives are dominated by what this man, this teenager at the time, did. From the opening scene, which chronicles the aforementioned break-up, we immediately are fed the tone and technique of the film. It is dialogue and character driven, it is within these interesting conversation that smart people have that we are told the story of the origin of facebook, the events that influenced the site, the people who were lied to and back stabbed along the way. Fincher shoots the movie very steady, no moving camera tricks, just static capturing the performances. He puts them in neutral colors and gives different points of view over one coherent story as to how this all went down. Who knew the creation of a website could be so rich with drama and deceit. Writer Aaron Sorkin delivers scene after scene that overlap and reveal the true colors of every person on screen. It is pure poetry and the actors, who have a huge job on this film, do the writing justice and bring this story to life. Timberlake is finally given a credible platform to stretch his acting skills and as Napster co-founder Sean Parker we can see him playing somewhat of himself, but with more of a flair for the attention getter. On the other end is Andrew Garfield who, after Eisenberg is the most affecting. As Eduardo Saverin he is our most empathetic character and the one we hate to see betrayed, the one we side with in the small intervals of attorney delegations, no matter how much we want to believe Zuckerberg did this without hurting anyone, the proof isn't there for that, but his character is much deeper than the jerk genius he comes off as on the surface. Armie Hammer also deserves to be mentioned for playing both Winklevoss twins who say they had the original idea that Zuckerberg drew on to create the facebook. There is so much to say about the film I can hardly express it all here, but that the goal of it was to be cool, to see what others are up to, to know who's in a relationship and who's not anymore, that the whole thing grew from the need for revenge on a scorned lover, of not feeling included or elite. It is what the world is about, it touches on so many human emotions and it is all filtered through a page of your very own on the Internet. It is a cultural phenomenon and we are lucky to have a film that chronicles how something big can come from the most basic emotions that we all share. It is jolting, effective, complex and nothing like you probably thought.

WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS Review

As someone who knows little to nothing about the stock market and all that jazz that goes along with it my biggest concern when seeing a film like 'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps' is simply not being able to follow what the hell all this money mumbo jumbo is the characters are talking about. I handled things pretty well the first go around and the same is true for this rather prestigious sequel. Though Gekko seems to be an afterthought in the second film, Douglas is still the most intriguing thing about the film. Having seen him recently in the direct-to-dvd film 'Solitary Man' and now this, it is apparent how good he is at playing this slimy unforgiving man that takes nothing as his own fault and will or maybe cannot stop what he truly knows destroys him. Or so we think. The interesting thing about this sequel is the perspective it puts on things. Within viewing the first movie as a stand alone film it is an intriguing story in a specific time, when the credits roll we may speculate but we don't really care what may happen to these characters as they age and what their life might bring about once they are too old to acknowledge the benefit of money without everything else in one's life. Within the second film, Stone is able to deliver a message that isn't simply told straightforward, like many of its characters-it is crooked. We are being given a lesson in doing what is important in life, something we have all heard time and time again, but framing it within the constructs of wall street and this legacy we all know as well as family dynamics and all kinds of things is certainly a grand way of delivering it. And to his credit, Stone delivers it well. This is a sequel that takes few of its cues from its predecessor. The pacing, the point, the entire plot differs from the first. And the plot is air tight-Shia LaBeouf (who must have a goal of getting into sequels of movies that were made when he was a baby) is getting married to Gekko's daughter. He is also working for a bank run by Frank Langella who is wonderful in his short time here. Things happen causing the bank to fold and Shia to lose his job. Things get sticky, Gekko's out of jail, Shia wants revenge, Gekko can help...but of course he wants leverage and so Shia must lie to his fiance so she will talk to her father who she now hates and blames for numerous things. All this is well executed and Josh Brolin is especially nasty as the man who ruined the bank and the man who ran it for which Shia's character worked. Not to give away the whole plot, the remainder is surely satisfying though near the end the film drags a bit and the conclusion is much to nicely cleaned up for it to be any kind of believable. Shia does his thing, surviving on his little quirks that always bring his performance above whatever type he is playing for. Here he never tries to hard to be the slick wall street broker the previews make him out to be and his love interest here and in real life is the lovely Carey Mulligan who frankly anchors the film emotionally and if it were not for her the movie would simply have no heart. Susan Sarandon shows up for a few scenes but her role should have easily been cut in the editing room. The tone gets it right and the camera work is quite impressive, while the soundtrack is just odd at points. Overall though, I found the film to be impressive, leaving a mark where follow-ups usually don't. It is certainly worth seeing, if not for the accomplishment in Stone's career that it is at least for the Charlie Sheen cameo. It doesn't get much better than that.