February 8th, 2010
Steve Buscemi should be getting more starring roles. Not only is he a great actor, when given the proper role he can display a great sense of vulnerability that makes him easily relatable even in the most ridiculous situations. Want to see a prime example of this… then go rent 2001’s Ghost World, because Saint John of Las Vegas is an interesting idea that is executed with very little success
Heavily inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, Saint John of Las Vegas chronicles the subtle, life-changing journey of John Alighieri (Buscemi), a gambling addict trying to recover while stuck in a dull desk job at an insurance company in Albuquerque, New Mexico. When John’s boss, Mr. Townsend (Peter Dinklage), assigns him to return to Vegas to investigate an insurance claim filed by a stripper, who goes by the moniker “Tasty D Lite” (Emmanuelle Chriqui), with fraud investigator Virgil (Romany Malco). While in Vegas, John is forced to fight his temptation to return to his old gambling habits.
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Tags: Buscemi, Dante, Dinklage, Inferno, John, Las, Peter, Saint, Sarah, Silverman, Steve, Vegas
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February 4th, 2010
Kevin Smith made his mark in the film community with a series of films full of vulgar dialogue about sex and other bodily functions. Despite a couple of slight excursions, the critically acclaimed Chasing Amy and the critically ridiculed Jersey Girl, Smith’s movies have been pretty similar in tone and content from his ultra-low budget debut Clerks to 2008’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno. But now, partially due the disappointing response to Zack and Miri, Smith is doing things a little different. His new film, Cop Out, is his first studio film (since Mallrats in 1995), and it’s also his first time directing a script written by someone else.
I recently had a chance to talk to Smith in a roundtable setting, and he proved to be just as outspoken and candid as his reputation would suggest. “What do you want to talk about?” he asked almost immediately, “We can talk about the making of [the movie]. We can talk about the theoretical. We can talk about me selling out.” Smith is referring to his switch to Warner Bros. for Cop Out after making every previous film with Weinstein Brothers (with the exception of 1995’s Universal comedy Mallrats), either at the now defunct Miramax or The Weinstein Company. “I had a huge emotional breakdown when Zack and Miri came out, because I was expecting Zack and Miri to do closer to Forgetting Sarah Marshal business… We didn’t do Sarah Marshall business, we wound up doing Kevin Smith business.” The response to Zack and Miri appears to have had a huge effect on the future course of Smith’s career. His point of view immediately following its release was “I’m spinning my wheels here. I’m telling the same stories, apparently. Nobody cares anymore … and I went and shut myself up in the library and started smoking lots of weed.”
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Tags: Cop, Couple, Dicks, Kevin, Out, Smith
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January 15th, 2010
Walking into The Book of Eli, I was not really expecting much. It basically looked like a cheap Mad Max knock-off with religious overtones, probably mixing in some Children of Men. But maybe it was because I wasn’t expecting much that movie turned out decent. Not too good, but decent.
Denzel Washington stars as a lone wanderer named Eli (at least that is what the tag says, he also has great teeth) traveling across American Wasteland to the west with the only copy of the Bible left, supposedly. Roughly, thirty years ago, America, and presumably the world, has been left a wasteland due to some catastrophic fallout, maybe nuclear. Anyways, along the way Eli stumbles into a town resembling those of the Old West, whose mayor/leader Carnegie, is played by Gary Oldman, who covets books, looking for one in particular to stretch his rule (guess which one). There is also Mila Kunis, the daughter of Carnegie’s concubine, who looks great given the post-apocalyptic setting. She ends up following Eli to the west. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: action, Book, Denzel, Eli, Gary, Kunis, Mila, Oldman, Post-Apocalyptic, Washington
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January 13th, 2010
Camera Stylo is now accepting submissions!
Camera Stylo – the Cinema Studies Student Union’s undergraduate cinema studies journal – annually publishes outstanding critical papers on film and film related matters. Submissions must be approved by a faculty member & must not exceed 4000 words (approximately 15 pages).
Questions and submissions must be sent to camerastylo@gmail.com. Limit two submissions per person.
Submissions due by 5pm Friday, January 22, 2010
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December 25th, 2009
This film was exactly what I was fearing it would be: unimaginative. I can just picture a bunch of fat, money-hording producers with their monocles drinking wine and saying “You know, Superhero action movies are very big these days. Let’s get Robert Downey Jr. in a version of his Tony Stark role meets Jack Sparrow and cast him as a superhero sort of Sherlock Holmes-y character, call the film Sherlock Holmes because it’s a name that sells and it’ll pull people in….then make it a franchise and make lots of money! Mwahahahaha!” Then the Scrooges decide to release it on Christmas because they know that weekend is when most of the masses will see films. It’s a brilliant marketing tactic for suckers and is probably exactly why RDJ is quoted as saying (jokingly) that he’ll retire if Sherlock Holmes bombs, because it’s impossible to bomb with the marketing set behind this film. I can already tell that a good portion of people who are reading this review will go out and see this film anyways simply because of how awesome the marketing has been. I don’t blame you, but consider this my official “I told you so”. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: action, Guy Ritchie, Jude Law, Rober Downey Jr., Sherlock Holmes
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December 11th, 2009
There are many films that preach the importance of teamwork and the ability to change and forgive. However, it is rare to find a film that actually believes this message. I am ecstatic to write that Clint Eastwood’s latest masterpiece Invictus (Latin for “unconquered”) is one those very special films. In a time when technology seems to dominate the cinema, Eastwood proves all you need in order to leave the audience speechless is a great story and a bit of passion.
Based on John Carlin’s book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation, Invictus is a look at newly elected President Nelson Mandela’s (Morgan Freeman) attempts to bring the people of post-apartheid South Africa together through the Springboks, the country’s national Rugby team. With the assistance of team leader Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), they aspire to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship. Read the rest of this entry »
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