Felony (2013)

“Prison is for pricks who don't have that punishment here. Not you. Not me. Doesn't make sense. Alright?”

            I am not really shore how to start this review. I could go into talking about how it seems like lately certain police officers are not upholding the law themselves and doing terrible things to those they were sworn to protect but I do not feel like getting twenty thousand comments and hates. Plus, I am such an adult and only really get my news from what is posted on my Tumblr feed from the people I follow. I know, I am such an adult. I could also go into how even as a twenty-seven year old I still get nervous about driving sometimes and god forbid I take my eyes off the road for even a second I will either hit a car or someone. But I will not because who really wants to hear about that. These things I could bring up do have something to do with the movie Felony. Instead I will just create a summary of the movie.

            Mal Toohey (Joel Edgerton) had just led a team for a drug raid of a warehouse. One of the drug dealers shoots Mal but fortunately he was wearing a vest and only comes away with a bruise. To celebrate the raid the team takes Mal out for drinks. By the end of the party Mal is a little drunk. One of his fellow detectives tells him that there is a roadblock checking for drunk drivers and to give them a specific code word so he can bypass it. Mal gives the codeword to the cops at the roadblock and drives away.

            The cops should have stopped Mal. While driving down a street he hits a boy on a bicycle with his car. Mal stops driving and goes over to the boy on the road and then calls in the emergency. He lies to the police when they come to the scene. He says that he saw another car hit the boy. The older cop on the scene Carl Summer does not question Mal. The younger cop Jim Mellic is suspicious and soon begins to dig deeper into the accident and Mal’s report.

            Carl tells Mal to not tell anyone what really happened. Carl’s logic is that Mal is a hero what happened to that boy on the bicycle was an accident. Soon Mal feels tremendously guilty and wants to come clean but Carl refuses to let him do so because his name will also be dragged into the whole mess for covering the crime up.

            I am not going to go into the rest of the story. To be honest it was quite boring and a bit predictable.

            I only wanted to see Felony because Melissa George is in it. She plays Mal’s wife and is only in the movie for a few minutes. I like Melissa George a lot as an actress and trust me when in say I have sat through a much more boring movie than Felony just to see her. Joel Edgerton not only starred in the movie he also wrote and produced it. The writing was not really that bad I think it was just the story that bored me. Major props to Joel Edgerton for writing the movie, though. Felony was not terrible it is worth seeing at least once

Between Us (2012)

In one of my graduate classes I am currently taking the teacher has us read pages and pages of articles and then has us write a one sentence- yes, one sentence- summary on each of the articles we read. This is no small feat when some of the articles can be over sixty pages long and the material is dry as can be. As I was watching Between Us everything about it felt as if I was reading one of the sixty pages for my class. It was dry it was boring and it was too long even at an hour and a half.

            The plot revolves around two couples that used to be friends. Carlo (Taye Diggs) and Joel used to be college friends. While Joel is loaded and owns his own advertising firm Carlo can barely make ends meet. Carlo says he is happily married to Grace (Julia Stiles) and it is obvious Joel has not been happy with his wife Sharyl (Melissa George) in a very long time. When they meet both times in the story both couples try to disguise how happy they are.

            I was seriously so bored with the whole movie literally right from when it started. There was nothing redeeming about the characters even though I think that is the point. You in no way feel bad for any one of the characters they are all jerks who are completely happy with wherever they are in life.

            I had been hoping the story would be somewhat entertaining since the cast was really good. Melissa George is one of my favorite actresses she always gives a great performance no matter the material and she did give a good performance here like she usually does. Julia Stiles is fantastic she really does not get enough attention. She looks great and her acting just gets better with every movie I see her in. Taye Diggs is always a good actor. It was nice to see him and Stiles together in a movie. The guy who played Joel to me just got pushed aside he was not that good compared to the other three actors. I wish the story had been better for George, Stiles, and Diggs.

            I will give some credit to the direction. There were certain camera angles at the beginning that were really creative and very different.

            Between Us was very boring. I will admit there were moments in the movie that were not too bad but the whole thing just bombed. I am all for a different type of story but watching unhappy couples is not the type of movie I want to watch. It is uncomfortable and miserable to go through relationship problems in real life why would you want to watch a movie about that? Only watch if you are a fan of either Taye Diggs, Melissa George or Julia Stiles and even then seriously think it over before watching it otherwise absolutely Between Us.  

Swinging With the Finkels (2011)

Never heard of Swinging With the Finkels? Don’t worry I never did either before I sat down to watch this. And do not worry it is not a movie that everyone should see.

            Alvin and Ellie Finkel (Martin Freeman and Mandy Moore) have been together for nine years. Their marriage has become come to a plateau, there is no excitement in their marriage anymore and they have no idea how to spice things up. They take advice from their friends and coworkers but none of it seems to work for Alvin and Ellie.

            Their friends Peter and Janet (Melissa George) have been going through the same thing the difference is they have two small children. Peter is a dentist and slept with one of his patience and after he tells Janet she throws him out.

            From her friend, Ellie gets the idea to “swing” to invite another couple around and sleep with them. Both are not really sure if it will work and it does not seem like they really want to but they go through with it. Their night of “swinging” was a bust and their marriage falls further and further down the hole. Finally Alvin suggest living apart for a while. Alvin goes to stay with Peter. The two men spend a day with his kids and Peter admits that he misses Janet and being home with her and their children. Janet tells Ellie the same thing that she misses Pete and that they have been together for so many years it would be a shame to not work things out and stay together.

            Like all rom coms Ellie and Alvin get back together in a very clichéd ending that I saw coming right from the beginning.

            I honestly only downloaded Swinging With the Finkels because Melissa George is in it. She was great the woman has a knack for being in small parts and just really making them stand out and memorable. I like Mandy Moore I was very happy to see her in a movie. Moore was very good as well. I do not think she gets a lot of credit as an actress. Martin Freeman does nothing for me I do not think he is a great actor he does not seem to have too much range. I was not too crazy about Swinging With the Finkels. Maybe it is because I have never really been in a relationship or maybe it was just boring I cannot tell you. Unless you like any of the actors in this movie skip it.

 

Amityville Horror (2005)

“There was a family... lived here some time ago. They had a similar problem.”
“The DeFeos…I'm living in their house.” 

            This 2005 version of Amityville Horror was my first rated R movie I saw in the theaters. Even though there was some gross parts in it the movie holds a special place in my memories haha. I actually went to see this by myself and I can remember sitting there waiting for the pop out stuff (I hold off on saying “scary” because this is not scary in the slightest). I had fun that day going by myself and I remember I did not even get asked for my license. Anyway… this retelling of the classic horror story was really good. This is one movie I do mind watching again and again.

            If you are not familiar with the story of Amityville Horror it is begins with the murders of the DeFeo family by the eldest son Ronnie. He shot and killed his parents two brothers and little sister. He claimed he killed his family because the voices he was hearing told him to do so.

            A year later George and Kathy Lutz moved into the house with her three children. They only spent twenty-eight days in the house because of paranormal occurrences. In the movie George becomes sick whenever he is around the house because he is possessed with the evil spirits of the house. At the end of the movie the family get out of the house by way of George’s speed boat before the house can kill them. The real Lutz family never went back for their possessions.

            I know this version is a remake of the original from 1979. I like that one it was a good cheesy 1970s horror flick. It was filmed in the town I am from so it was fun seeing familiar sights. The 2005 version is so much better even though it is very loosely based off the novel and original story. Screenwriter Scott Kosar gives some explanation as to what possessed Ronnie DeFeo and George Lutz. The explanation is pretty cool as well as creepy and it kind of fits the area where the house was.

            The whole reason I even went to see this movie in the first place was because of Melissa George who plays Kathy Lutz. I knew her from when she was on Alias as Lauren Reed the bitch who married Vaughn while Sydney was thought dead!! (wow you think after all these years I would not be so hostile towards the character!!). I learned to like Lauren Reed at this point and really liked Melissa George as an actress so I missed her a lot on Alias and had to see the movie. I have seen the actress in other movies since then and she is such a good actress. George was very good in this movie. I do however laugh a little bit whenever her Australian accent comes through when she says certain words or yells.

            Rachel Nichols plays the babysitter Lisa. Nichols was on the last season of Alias. When I realized this I freaked out a little at how awesome it was that new and old Alias characters/actoresses were in the same movie. Her character is a real bitch. The ghost of the little girl tells Chelsea, Kathy’s daughter, that Lisa is a bad babysitter and then Lisa gets tortured.

            Ryan Reynolds is shirtless for most the movie and that is fine by me! He was excellent as well (and not just because he had his shirt off). Reynolds seems to always be cast as quirky characters and that little bit of quirkiness in him comes out in some scenes; it does not take away but adds a little humanness to his character. In the scenes especially towards the end when George is possessed by the demons in the house Reynolds is really scary and creepy.

            A very little Chloe Grace Mortez plays Chelsea. She was so cute. Watching this it is weird to think of her as Hit-Girl from Kickass. If the kid playing Michael looks familiar he played Captain Kirk as a kid in the reboot of Star Trek.

            Amityville Horror is a very good movie. A lot of my friends are horror fans and very picky about remakes but every one of them that I have talked to about this movie say it is one of the only horror remakes they truly enjoyed. Depending on what reviews you read a lot of people are not happy with the way this version turned out mostly because it is totally different from the original movie and plot of the novel and it took a lot of liberty with certain aspects. But I cannot find fault in this one I really like what I see when I watch it. I absolutely hate horror movies because the reasons why the people are being haunted is really stupid but this version of Amityville Horror has a very good and reasonable explanation for the killings and hauntings