Archives December 2024

A Real Pain is a comedy from Searchlight Pictures staring Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg as they tour Poland after a death in the family.

Searchlight Pictures has shared their latest film with us, A Real Pain, for the purpose of our viewing and reviewing. As with every film review we have done, our opinions are not for sale but we will be more than happy to watch the film and share our honest thoughts on it. I figure we should remind folks of our process every once in a while.

A Real Pain is the story of two cousins that had drifted apart and with the passing of their grandmother are reunited for a trip through Poland to see where their Jewish ancestors came from and what all they endured along the way. The film is listed as both a Comedy and Drama in Vudu and I feel they are only half right. Sure there are some amusing lines and moments but this film is not a comedy in any way. Either that or I have a very different definition of “comedy”. I had only seen a single trailer for the film and didn’t know much about what to expect. The only expectations that I had were that our two leads, Culkin and Eisenberg, were an odd pairing that deliver great performances. With that pairing one other thing was clear, at some point things are going to be said that can’t be unsaid. I can confirm that both expectations were met.

The writing is fantastic as was the portrayals by the cast. Culkin should honestly be nominated for his role. The pain his character feels and shows in everything he does and says is done so well that you want to see if he will be okay. The journey through the film leaves you caring about him, more than his cousin who carries his own pain but comes off more sanctimonious about it. By the end of the journey their relationship is stronger for it but leaves you wondering, what happens next? The film was well done, start to finish. Not my usual style of film but if you’re looking for a well written tale of overcoming grief and facing your demons you won’t go wrong with this one.

Joker has returned with Joaquin Phoenix reprising his role in Joker Folie A Deux from Warner Brothers Pictures.

Joaquin Phoenix returns to his rendition of the Joker in Joker Folie A Deux from Warner Brothers Pictures. The story follows the end of the first film as Arthur awaits trial in Arkham. During a regular meeting with his lawyer, when all humor had left him, he saw into a choir group therapy class, making eye contact for the first time with Harley Quinnzel. He starts attending the group soon after, using that meeting to talk to her more. The humor has returned and things escalate as she starts a fire as a diversion so they can be free, if only for a short time. The majority of the film centers around his trial for the murders committed in the first film.

As to be expected, the acting by the cast was fantastic and visually it looks like the perfect film to follow the original. I expected the film to have a few songs sung by the characters due to their meeting and them almost exclusively within the confines of that room. There were so many songs in this film being sung by the duo that it might as well have been categorized as a musical. I applaud them for continuing to push the idea of what and who Joker is but overall it fell way flat. All technical aspects of the film were fantastic but the story felt interrupted by all of the musical numbers, resulting in a film that was difficult to enjoy in the end.

Who watches the Watchmen? Perhaps we’ll get the answer with the next installment of the animated film series!

In mere months following the release of Chapter 1, Warner Brothers brings us the sequel and finale with The Watchmen Chapter 2. The former super team has seen one of their people murdered, one in self exile and one in prison. Two have donned their costumes once again to help where they could and continuing Rorschach’s investigation. Night Owl manages to find that each of these events seem to be tied together through corporations owned by Ozymandias himself. While this is happening the world is also on the brink of a new World War.

Alan Moore has penned some of the greatest stories in comics and many have seen adaptations in film. The Watchmen was first adapted in live action film but for some reason the studio saw fit to make this into a two film animated series. Having never seen the original film or read the comic, I am unable to compare the animated films to either but from what I’ve been told, the main story points are exactly the same. The voice acting is fantastic, which is not a surprise since it includes legends like Troy Baker, Katee Sackhoff and Matthew Rhys. The animation reminds me of the art style from the many games that Telltale Games published years ago and fits the story perfectly. Overall I thought the film was wonderfully written and once again proves how brilliant of a writer Alan Moore really is. In it’s entirety the film was fantastic and I know I must watch the live action film to see if it lives up to this version of the story because if it’s only half as good then its going to be a damn great film.