Jackass 3D

With the over-the-top of antics of Johnny Knoxville and company reaching the mark of three successful motion pictures, I’d like to comment on the absurdity of how my local theater labeled the film as Jack*** 3D on all their marquees. There is no question the film is not appropriate for all audiences but a jackass was always one of the go to insults for us bold ones in my kindergarten class. Leave the title as it was intended.

Now let’s get on to the movie itself. While it is tough to judge the film due to its disjointed focus-free documentary nature, it is possible to look at the depth of the comedy. I have no knowledge of the actual budget, but it appears that a large portion of it went into the 3D aspect. The large-scale stunts came nowhere near the multi-layered ventures of Jackass 2. Instead the majority of the ideas seemed to be replays of their past successes on a slightly bigger scale (and sometimes smaller). New ideas, such as Steve-O’s bungee jump inside of a port-o-potty, give the film some life but the laughs have gaps between them. The 3D didn’t add much to the experience, except for higher ticket prices.

Possibly the most disappointing aspect of this third film is the elimination of a portion of the cast’s chemistry. In the past, the group had natural pairings, much in the same way Monty Python always did. Steve-O would be with Chris Pontius, Bam Margera with Ryan Dunn etc. This time, the full group tends to be present in most of the skits. This leads to a lot of footage of the group laughing, which can be funny but ultimately the goal should be for the audience to laugh.

I am pointing out weaknesses in Jackass 3D, which is kind of a ridiculous concept. The whole point of the series since it’s earliest days on MTV is for a group of friends to do what they think is funny no matter how shocking it is. The sheer amount of poop the audience sees in Jackass 3D shows that they still know how to shock their now adult audience. I can’t say that this collection is their best work, but there are plenty of classics in there. (7.0 out of 10)

It's Kind of A Funny Story

It may just be me, but isn’t it an odd marketing strategy for a movie that doesn’t look very funny in the previews to have the name, It’s Kind of A Funny Story? That is likely the reason behind the complete lack of interest shown by the movie going public. The story follows Craig, played by Keir Cilchrist, as he deals with depression and checks himself into a psychiatric ward. Inside the hospital he meets a variety of people who give him new perspective on what’s really important in life.

Gilchrist’s character develops slowly making the early portion of the film slow and boring. That could have been intentional for the audience to relate to the feelings of the character, but it just creates a dozing audience. Though after the lengthy process of introducing the characters, both lead and supporting, a story arch finally emerges. Zach Galifianakis makes his most convincing attempt at a serious role as Bobby. He’s mostly comedy driven but the relationship between Craig and Bobby develops in a realistic and powerful way that becomes the strength of the film.

The supporting cast, made up mostly of psychiatric patients, tends to be the butt of insensitive jokes. None were terribly offensive, but I just don’t think it’s right to laugh at the random outbursts of a schizophrenic patient. I was laughing but I blame the movie for putting that situation in front of me. In the end, the relationship between Craig and Noelle, played by Emma Roberts is presented front and center as Bobby, who is crucial throughout most of the film, fades out and vanishes. The exchange in role is fairly rushed and comes across as a quick fix resolution.

It’s Kind of A Funny Story suffers from a classic case of genre ambiguity. Its comedy isn’t strong enough to carry the film and the teen angst often comes off as whinny and predictable. The exchanges between Galifianakis and Gilchrist are the biggest successes of the story and make it worth seeing. (7.1 out of 10)

The Social Network

As the film ended and the crowded theater filed out, I couldn’t help thinking that many of them didn’t consider how important this story actually is to their daily lives. It doesn’t tell of any brave war moment or anything, like you'd expect, but in reality Facebook is a bigger part of the daily lives of Americans than war is. This film tells of how a few college students changed the way people communicate and keep in touch. On the surface it looks like the story of how some jerk screws a lot of people out of the credit and money they deserve. But the film is by no means an unbiased account of the events.

The plot follows the origins of Facebook and the ensuing disagreements and lawsuits between the parties involved. Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg, the controversial CEO of the website and the main target of all of the allegations. While Eisenberg’s performance strays from impersonation, he does a remarkable job of growing more dislikable with every scene and somehow resolving the plot with sympathy from the audience. Soon to be Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield plays the roller coaster ride personified in CFO Eduardo Saverin, who is left in the dust while Zuckerberg expands Facebook with Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) at his side. The three lead actors, whom are all making their first impact in the world of Oscar-buzz, are quite strong in making their individual cases to be Hollywood heavyweights.

It’s obvious that this fall is the anti-blockbuster season with a lot of intellectual stories invading the screen. I am absolutely loving it. The Social Network is an incredibly gripping film that is written in the context of revealing the origin story of a worldwide phenomenon. The actuality that every event is not a concrete fact does little to hurt the film, but the script keeps a realness that can convince an audience and get them interested. And on a closing note, is it just me or are all these big fall releases preaching the same thing? It sure seems that pursuit of success through money leads to destroyed relationships and loss of self. Wall Street 2, The Town, and The Social Network seem to think so. I better look out because I’m making buckets of dough off this blog. Let’s all roll our eyes together. (9.5 out of 10)

The Town

After seeing The Town and August release, Takers I believe I can now successfully rob a bank. It’s a shame I already spent all that time and money on college. It’s tough not to draw parallels between the two films because of their bank robber plotlines and how close they were released to each other. But they were very different in the lifestyles they exposed. The Town tells the story of a group of bank robbers from a poor neighborhood in Boston. Directed by Ben Affleck, the film is a dramatized presentation of an individual’s search for a way out of their negative lifestyle.

Affleck also stars in the film as Doug Macray, the architect of a gang, who falls in love with a witness of one of their jobs (Rebecca Hall). He is then forced to balance his relationship against the temper of his lifelong friend Jim, played by Jeremy Renner. The close pursuit of the FBI, lead by Jon Hamm’s character doesn’t help things much. The powerful cast paints a convincing picture of urban crime. With trophy collectors Hamm, and Renner present, it’s no shock. The question mark was Daredevil himself, Ben Affleck. I actually tend to think Affleck is good or better in most of his films. The Town is one of his best performances. While not very multi-dimensional, he played the part and played it well. Maybe he should direct and star in all of his movies.

Heist films are inherently stressful. In this instance, the audience is permitted to breathe at points as Affleck and Hall’s characters build their relationship. That element balances the script and adds the human element a lot of crime films neglect. I don’t claim The Town is a completely unique story, though it’s a pretty strong motion picture. If those cool masks they wear in the trailers don’t draw you into the theater, I don’t know what will. (9.3 out of 10)

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Even with the lengthy time lapse since the original Wall Street, it was hard for me to a picture a way for director Oliver Stone and company to continue the franchise in a fresh way. Though if I were to name a topic I know the least about, big banking and the stock market would be right near the top. But, those who obviously do know something about these sorts of things based Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps on the real events involved with the bank bailouts of a few years ago.

Shia LaBeouf stars as a Wall Street trader trying to balance financial uncertainty and a new life with his fiancé, played by Carey Mulligan. Also, there’s the little coincidence that her character happens to be the daughter of former billionaire ex-con, Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas.)

The film is thick with dialogue as expected, which means that the acting needs to be spot on, which it is. LaBeouf continually proves he has the ability to carry a film. Then when he’s paired with Michael Douglas you get a quality old vs. young dynamic that shows the core differences between greed and ambition. The other leads played by Mulligan and Josh Brolin are on an even playing field with LaBeouf and Douglas in terms of quality but a bit less interesting.

That honker of a script is the most interesting aspect of the film to me. A good number of the scenes use dense dialogue in place of any type of special effect or gimmick typical of big budget Hollywood. I may not know much about the subject matter, but I’m convinced the characters run close to what their real life counterparts went through in their time of stress. The second Wall Street proves that educated films still have an audience even without a single gunshot or explosion. Hopefully LaBeouf enjoyed it while he could because I doubt we can say the same about the upcoming Transformers 3. (8.8 out of 10)