21 Jump Street (2012)

Director(s): Phil Lord, Chris Miller. Cast: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube. 109 min. Rated R. Comedy.

I don't understand why I keep doing this. I walk into a movie that I whole-heartedly know beforehand is going to be a long brainless comedy with many cheap laughs (and rare good laughs, mostly vulgar ones), which will never stimulate me to think about any element in the universe for even a fraction of a second. Yeah, yeah, Jonah Hill is a great actor, and I'm his true fan, but that's no excuse to knowingly waste your time, because life is too short. Don't be deceived by the ads and good reviews; you can pass on this one.

PS: How did Johnny Depp get lured into this for a cameo?

Mo says:

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Director: Marc Webb. Cast: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen, Denis Leary, Sally Field, Campbell Scott. 136 min. Rated PG-13. Action/Fantasy.

More of the same ... more of the same. If you're going to remake a movie (that was just made 10 years ago!), you need to improve upon what you already have. Now how in the world were the filmmakers expecting to top the train sequence or the character development of Spider-man 2? Copying the brilliant Dock Ock for the villain here shows how desperate they were. The only captivating moments, were the rare human interactions between Garfield and Stone, and the newly innovated point-of-view shots of Spidey flying through Manhattan. And of course, the hilarious 2-second Stan Lee cameo.

Update: I'm appalled at why this remake was made. According to ComicBookGirl19:  

"The reason is because if Sony didn't make another Spider Man movie soon, the rights to the franchise would revert back to Marvel/Disney, and Sony couldn't have that".

Mo says:

Purple Rain (1984)

Director: Albert Magnoli. Cast: Prince, Apollonia Kotero, Morris Day, Clarence Williams III. 111 min. Rated R. Musical.

Merely watched it because of its status among musicals, expecting a corny vehicle that fed Prince's claim to fame in the 80s. But I was surprised. Very similar to 8 Mile, it's about a singer who with all his glorious facade, is struggling with his inner demons, including his extreme fear of rejection, an abusive father, and a downward drift into repeating his Dad's self-destructive behavior. The decent job Prince does at acting brings up the question how much of this based on his own life story. Contains the obligatory singer biography scene where the singer trashes his own house.

Mo says:

The African Queen (1951)

Director: John Huston. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Robert Morley. 105 min. Unrated. UK/USA. Adventure/Romance.

Why don't they make movies like this any more? Just watching these two immortal stars interact (and Bogie playing so ... against type!) in such a beautiful African backdrop would have been enough to make this a classic. But Houston is as great a director to give you more, including engaging dialogue between Hepburn and Bogart, and comedic moments as a sighing relief. Even though the love relationship between such extreme opposites is a tough sell, and even though the ending is a one-in-a-million shot (literally), still, this is one of those films you need to see before you die.

Mo says:

My Afternoons with Margueritte (2010)

Director: Jean Becker. Cast: Gérard Depardieu, Gisèle Casadesus, Sophie Guillemin. 82 min. France Drama/Comedy.

Pleasant story of a big oaf (Depardieu) befriending a little 95-year-old educated lady in a park, showing how such friendships are possible between such extreme personalities, and how beautiful they can be. But that's all it is: a nice pleasant movie, to relax and watch after a rough day. And what a treasure the French have in Depardieu.

Mo says:

The Omega Man (1971)

Director: Boris Sagal. Cast: Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, Rosalind Cash. Rated PG. 98 min. Sci-fi/Thriller.

Post-apocalyptic sci-fi with Heston as a Christ-like figure (check out the last shot) trying to save humanity from the results of a biological weapon that has changed the human race to vampiroid light-avoiding zombies - zombies of the fast kind, that is. If Heston was the sci-fi star of the seventies (Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green), then this was his weakest and least thought-provoking movie of the genre. Amazing how lax the movie rating system was in those days, giving this a PG with all its violence and nudity.

 Mo says:

Coriolanus (2011)

Director: Ralph Fiennes. Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Vanessa Redgrave, Brian Cox, Jessica Chastain. 123 min. Rated R. UK. War/Drama.

How sad. How sad that last year, Ralph Fiennes' great directorial debut went under the radar. The Shakespearean play about an army general who is forced into politics, disappoints, is banished from his homeland, and then joins forces with the enemy against his own country, has so many contemporary correlates, picturing the story in anything other than a 21st century society would have been wrong; and the characters' "strange" poetic language makes the impact even stronger (although I admit I watched the whole thing with subtitles). And remind me: why wasn't Vanessa Redgrave nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar?

PS: Thank you for the recommendation, Brad.

Mo says:

The Natural (1984)

Director: Barry Levinson. Cast: Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Wilford Brimley, Barbara Hershey, Richard Farnsworth, Joe Don Baker, Michael Madsen. 134 min. Rated PG. Sports.

Do American movies get any more formulaic than this? Is there any doubt that Robert Redford, that great heart-warming presence, will not make a winning home-run at the end? And that the last whack at the ball will not be in slow-motion? Of course, there are movies that don't take any chances, and are solely written for the American audience. But the ball hitting a single stadium light and all the rest bursting in a firecracker-like shower over our heroes, was really pushing it. Another movie that doesn't age well. Last year's Moneyball did a significantly better job on baseball.

Mo says:

Underworld: Awakening (2012)

Director(s): Måns Mårlind, Björn Stein. Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Rea, Charles Dance, Wes Bentley. 88 min. Rated R. Action/Fantasy.

I like the Underworld franchise, and I like Kate Beckinsale. And the presence of a few good actors here (even though it's the fourth episode of a series) show some people think Underworld is good. But this is one episode it could have done without.

Mo says:

Too Big to Fail (2011)

Director: Curtis Hanson. Cast:John Heard, James Woods, William Hurt, Topher Grace, Paul Giamatti, Cynthia Nixon, Edward Asner, Billy Crudup, Bill Pullman, Tony Shalhoub, Matthew Modine, Dan Hedaya. 98 min. Drama.

Incredibly tense narration of the few days in September 2008, when the world's entire economy almost collapsed. As opposed to other movies about those critical days, which hint at those in-charge as devils scheming behind the scenes, this one shows the events from Paulson and Bernanke's point-of-view: What would you have done if you were in their shoes? One caveat: This is not cinema. Similar to Contagion, it's a semi-documentary played out by great actors (the number of newsreels shown is a testimony to that). There's zero character development, maybe because there's too much story to compact into 2 hours.

Mo says:

Prometheus (2012)

Director: Ridley Scott. Cast: Noomi Rapace, Logan Marshall-Green, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce. 124 min. Rated R. Sci-fi/Thriller.

Making prequels has become an art, and the successful ones are those that build a world which illuminate the original in a new light. That's exactly what Prometheus does to the 1979 Alien, ingeniously connecting loose ends 33 years later, and throwing in new philosophical questions about the origins of life and existence to ponder upon. There are a few wobbly narrative moments here, but the setting is so mesmerizing, the concepts so well-orchestrated, and the visual effects so enhancing, I'm waiting to see if any 2012 movie will impress me more. Highly demanding a sequel to this.

PS #1: I ran into a few great articles, such as here, here, and especially here. Also, there's a very interesting back story interview with Ridley Scott himself. Prometheus already seems to be positioning itself as one of cinema's sci-fi masterpieces.

PS #2: Ebert interestingly notes that compared to 2001: A Space Odyssey's opening sequence, Prometheus' jump from prehistoric times to the year 2089 has now grabbed the record for the longest-spanning flash forward in movie history. Cool.

PS #3: Thank you, Mohi, for recommending to watch the original Alien again before watching this movie. It was definitely a prerequisite, especially to see the "space jockey" scene again.

Mo says:

MoMagic!

Men in Black III (2012)

 Director: Barry Sonnenfeld. Cast: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Emma Thompson, Michael Stuhlbarg, Bill Hader. 106 min. Rated PG-13. Comedy/Action/Sci-Fi.

This sets out to revive the lovable 90s franchise (an attempt that failed miserably in 2002), and succeeds at hitting every target it aims for. It's fun, it's funny, and it's even emotionally engaging. Brolin does a tremendous job in portraying a younger Tommy Lee Jones in his 20s, when Smith goes back in time to prevent a time-traveling monster from killing his colleague - to the point that I almost felt Jones looked like Brolin (and not vice versa). With a memorably grotesque villain and cool-looking aliens, it's as good as the original, and how sequels always should be.

PS: The Mojo is just for that final scene, where a tip at a diner prevents a meteor from hitting the Earth.

Mo says: