RBR: End of Watch

Films depicting the lives of cops in Southern California are nothing new and yet more continue to get made because they typically offer an effective mix of drama, action, suspense, and character study. This remains true in End of Watch, which follows two cops (played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena) as they deal with guns, gangs, and drugs. One of the things that allows this film to rise above the familiarity of the genre is the performances of its two leads. Gyllenhaal and Pena not only bring an authenticity to their roles, but you also truly feel the bond that has been established between these two "brothers", which is how they refer to each other. We really see who these guys are both in and out of the uniform as he film also takes the time to develop characters for their respective mates (Anna Kendrick nicely plays Gyllenhaal's wife). One of the biggest issues of debate surrounding the film is the decision to present this story from a documentary/found footage perspective. On one hand, I feel that this has now become a tired narrative approach that we've seen too often recently. In the particular film, I'm torn on how its used. At times, this approach creates some interesting angles to depict the action, but in other instances I think it handicaps the film's ability to properly tell the story. Ultimately, I would not cite this a reason to skip the movie, but I would be very interested to see how much the film would change/improve if it had used a more traditional filmmaking style. Ultimately, the strong performances and compelling story win out here to make this a much better film than I had anticipated. If you had previously ignored it because of its generic title, familiar storyline, or shaky cam style, don't let that deter you from checking it out now on home video. This is solid cop thriller that will instantly suck you in to its story. Rating: ****

Fool's Gold

I try to pride myself on being a Bond expert, but apparently there was a "lost" James Bond film that is now only coming to the light of day. From Funny or Die, I present to you To Have and To Gold

Lost Bond Film with Chris Kattan from Chris Kattan

America's scariest home videos

Turn out the lights because here's the latest trailer for Paranormal Activity 4

The new Normal

After going back in time with the third entry, the story appears to be moving forward now in fourth Paranormal Activity movie. Here's your first look at the movie, which is set to come out this October.

RBR: Project X

Like Chronicle this comes from the growing 'found footage' genre. While this film, about a trio of high school boys who throw a party that grows out of control, doesn't use as many cheats in order to have the narrative device work it still doesn't use it in a way to convince me it was the best approach to tell this story. Said story is pretty straightforward and familiar, but I do appreciate the amped up level of chaos that develops as result of this birthday celebration that was initially meant for a 'small group of people'. I did find though that there was far too many montages of kids partying to the latest radio hits for my liking. I can't complain about it too much though since you should expect style to win out over substance in a film like this. Ultimately I would have dismissed this as harmless entertainment were it not for one character. The best friend of the party host is so vile, unappealing, and lacking any redeeming characteristics that it became cringeworthy whenever he appeared on screen. It's as if he took all of the worst characteristics of Jonah Hill's character from Superbad and amped them up to the max. I wished for sufficient comeuppance for his character and it never suitably comes which was wholly disappointing. Young viewers will no doubt have a good time with this fantasy bash, but older viewers will likely struggle to find anything worthwhile here. Rating: ** 1/2

RBR: Chronicle

Whenever you read a biography of a superhero, two of the common dossier categories listed are the character's strengths and weaknesses. Watching Chronicle, it became apparent that this film about high school kids who develop super powers has its own well-defined strengths and weaknesses. The biggest detraction is its use of the 'found footage' storytelling device. Instead of enhancing the story like it does when used in the Paranormal Activity franchise, Chronicle feels stifled by this form of narrative. Scenes necessary for the story suffer from the lack of plausibility behind why they would be filmed by the characters in the first place. I also had problems at times empathizing with the drama of high school students, but that's more my issue than the film's. As for the film's strengths, it's premise is the primary draw. Though we've seen plenty of movies featuring superheroes and comic book characters, this still feels fresh. There is an authenticity to the way they portray what would happen if teenagers were able to obtain super powers. I also really loved the film's climatic scenes between two characters with these powers. They pull no punches going at each other and the end result is one of the most satisfying superhuman battles ever filmed. If a show like Heroes had been able to pull off scenes like the one in this low-budget film, it may have still been on the air. Going back to the film's premise, though, that is really the key to whether or not you'll seek this out. If you find it intriguing, then I definitely would recommend you give this watch. If there's no interest in seeing these kids fly and move object with a flick of their wrist, then you can skip this and not miss much. Rating: *** 3/4

RBR: Paranormal Activity 3

This franchise seems to be defying the law of diminishing returns by improving with each entry. What started out as a gimmick has cleverly developed into a franchise that doles out just enough of the backstory each time to make us want to come back for more. In this third outing, we head into the wayback machine of the 1980s to see Katie and Kristi, the girls featured in the first two films, as kids. To maintain the 'found footage' nature of these films, the girls' upbringing is documented by their mother's new boyfriend, who is a wedding videographer. When creepy things start happening around the house, he attempts to document it all with his camera. While the previous two films set up their scares in predictable fashion, this one is clever in not only offering some legitimate scares but dishing them out at unexpected moments. This often comes from the one camera that has been set up on an oscillating fan. It nicely builds the audience's anxiety as it slowly swivels from one side to the other. The other aspect of this one that I appreciated was the characters acted in a realistic manner. Unlike the second film where everyone came off like a moron, the characters here exhibited a reasonable mix of fright and curiousity. While I'm not sure how much longer they can reasonably do the 'found footage' thing, there's certainly more story to tell about this family and the demon that continues to haunt their lives. And for once, I actually look forward to seeing where this series goes from here. Given that the fourth movie has already been announced for this October, it appears we won't have to wait long to find out what happens next. Rating: ****

From the Batcave archives...

While most of us are focusing on the upcoming Batman film (to be previewed at some point this week in my 2012 list), here's some rare and unused footage from The Dark Knight. While this was posted on YouTube over a year ago, it's new to me and hopefully new to you as well. Enjoy!