Seven Psychopaths

Seven Psychopaths

By: Nicolette Karter

        I thought this would be rather funny, though it was gorier than what I thought it would be. Not that I mind gore, I just didn’t except that much. I like Colin Farrell (& his adorable accent), not to mention Christopher Walken & Woody Harrelson; they all star in this, along with Sam Rockwell, an actor who will seem familiar because he’s been in a lot of films as a supporting character, but I think is talented enough to be in a leading role. Not as prolifically as other leading men (some of which are in the movie with him), but to me, he seems to be a really good actor.

        Anyway, this movie is about alcoholic writer Marty (Colin Farrell) trying to create a screenplay about seven psychopaths. He is an excellent example of write what you know, because everyone (the characters) in this is a psychopath, so there is a lot of inspiration around him for this. Probably the most obvious insane person is his best friend Billy, played by Sam Rockwell, who works with Hans (Christopher Walken) stealing dogs, then collecting the reward money. That right there is a giant red flag as to their general well-being, but hey, times are tough out there & people got to make a living somehow.

        So Billy would do anything for Marty, but because he’s “out there” he thinks putting an ad in the paper for all psychopaths to come to Marty to tell him their story for material in the screenplay is a good idea. He also thought it would be a good idea to steal the dog of mob boss Charlie (Woody Harrelson), who is also a psychopath. Just know that the sanest person is Marty, and he’s in that gray area. In any case, Charlie is probably the second most psychotic person in this film, & he absolutely loves his dog. So stealing it is a deadly idea for everyone involved, which includes Billy, (the dog-napper), Hans (the reward-collector) & Marty (the drunk who got roped into this). After a brush with death, Hans & Marty briefly meet (& owe their lives to) the first psychopath we meet in the movie, Jack of Diamonds. This person doesn’t show their face, only pops up once in a while to kill people, then leaves the playing card (take a guess) the jack of diamonds.

        Then the three friends have to go on the run, with the dog, because Charlie will literally stop at nothing to get Bonnie (a Shi-Tzu) back. Personally, I don’t like Shi-Tzu’s, but if anyone took my little puppy, I’d go bezerk too. Throughout this film we see flashes of Marty’s ideas for his film, & Hans & Billy help him with ideas while hiding out in the middle of nowhere from Charlie. We also get the impression that Billy really wants a final shootout; his idea for Marty’s ending is a shootout involving all the psychopaths mentioned in both his movie & this movie, he drove them all to a spot he thought would be great for a final shootout (which somehow wasn’t a red flag to Marty or Hans. A psycho who wants a shootout drives you & a crazy mobster’s dog to the middle of nowhere because it’s an awesome place to shoot each other to death, which could easily happen because the mobster is coming after you with big guys & lots of guns & you just think “Sure, why not?” Every character in this doesn’t recognize their daft ways, yet never miss an opportunity to point out that Marty drinks too much. Poor Marty).

        This is the climax of the hilarious movie, and I actually liked it. It was a bit sad, because there was a sort of shootout (some people died & Bonnie was held at gunpoint), though much less dramatic & theatrical than the one Billy concocted for Marty’s film. I did really like this, I thought it was funny, & Colin Farrell gets to speak with his Irish accent, which is always a plus in my book. Oh, & heads up to those who don’t like gory parts of movies, the part with the bunny psychopath is brutal & gruesome, the first scene talks about violence with eyes (something I personally hate), and the scenes with the Mormon psychopath are the more bloody parts of this. So, what did you who saw this think? Did you like to see Woody Harrelson cry (as sadistic as that sounds, I just don’t see him as a crier, & he made it funny)? What movie would you like me to review next?

Django Unchained

Django Unchained

By: Nicolette Karter

        I like Quentin Tarantino’s films, even though they are a little graphic, both language-wise & gore-wise. And Jamie Foxx & Kerry Washington are both divine actors who I love. The little I’ve seen of Christoph Waltz is good; Samuel L. Jackson is awesome; and while I am surprising not a big fan of Leonardo DiCaprio like other girls, I did think he did a good job in this. His character is awful, but I think that’s the point.

        It starts with Django (Foxx) meeting Dr. Shultz (Waltz), who is awesome, in my opinion. The formal way he talks & conducts himself is funny. We then find out that Shultz needs Django to help him find his mission, because he is a bounty hunter who is looking for people who used to oversee Django & his wife Broomhilda (Washington). He agrees to give Django his freedom & money if he points out these men, but after the bounty is collected they go into business together.

        After a montage of the two partners becoming friends & Django learning how to read (& how to not look ridiculous in a bright blue suit I’m both glad & sad are no longer in style) while collecting a fair amount of money bounty hunting together over winter, they sent off to find & buy Broomhilda so she can be free with Django. They figure out she was sold to Calvin Candie (DiCaprio), who is a powerful plantation owner & into a competition were slave owners pit slaves against each other to fight to the death. Brutal, right? But Mr. Tarantino is not known for shying away from having brazen content in his films.

        Speaking of, he is nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for this movie. I think the Academy snubbed the costume designer for this, because they were amazing (remember me mentioning a bright blue suit?). Not that the other nominees don’t deserve to be nominated, I just wish this film was nominated as well. Not to mention, Jamie Foxx got snubbed by not having more nominations; he & Kerry Washington only got one each, & the entire ensemble got only one nomination. But hey, what are you gunna do?

        Anyway, as our heroic duo makes their way into the plantation of Mr. Candie, & hence get closer to Broomhilda, we see more brutality from slave owners. Now, I understand that the makers wanted this to be realistic, but a lot of people get shot & only a few who exploded made sense (like the Hitchcock-esque cameo Mr. Tarantino had with dynamite). I’m thinking someone wanted to see a lot of things blow up, so they just wrote it in a few places. The very last explosion was awesome, so look forward to that when watching this film. But that’s beside the point.

        In any case, Mr. Candie is awful, and so is his main house slave, Samuel L. Jackson’s Stephen. He figured out (really quick, I might add) that Django & the Dr. were there for Hildy (as she’s nicknamed) rather than to buy a slave for a ridiculous price; which somehow didn’t raise any questions or suspicions as to why they would go to such trouble for one stranger at a time when slaves were considered inferior to their masters. So, as soon as Stephen informed Mr. Candie that his guests were lying to him & will run off with Hildy, Mr. Candie got really dark & scary.

This is about the time of the climax, & because it’s a Quentin Tarantino film, it’s about time for the final shootout. I liked the way this ended, overall I liked the film. I also liked how over the course of the film, as time passed for the characters, you could see Django changing. His demeanor, the way he talks, & his attitude all transform from the beginning of the film to the end; which is another reason why I’m surprised Jamie Foxx didn’t get more nominations for this role. Oscar or no, everyone involved did a great job, & I would totally recommend watching this movie.

This is 40

Sorry it's been so long since we've posted anything, but I've been busy & promise to post more & more often in the coming year.

This is 40

By: Nicolette Karter

        Before watching this film, I had high hopes for it. Perhaps too high. I wrote in my December Movie Preview what I thought it would be like based on the trailer. To refresh your memory, here was my prediction:

THIS IS 40 The “sort-of-sequel to Knocked Up” looks hilarious. Paul Rudd & Leslie Mann are both very brave & funny actors, & this seems to be one of those sequels that are just as funny as the original; though that could be because it’s more of a spin-off than a sequel.

        Sadly, I was wrong, and this fell victim to the sequel curse. The opening scene was…odd; the makers may have been trying to go for “honest”, which is fine but it was kind of awkward to watch with other people in the room. Throughout the movie there are what I think are “honest” moments showing their lives, like at the doctors office (which, this might just be because I’m not a fan of the doctors office, but who schedules a bunch of doctors’ visits the week of their duel birthdays?), with the kids, & at work.

        I liked the way they managed to add some humor to the montage of living a busy life, and the guts it must have taken to make these brave scenes. But I don’t need to see Paul Rudd checking himself for hemorrhoids (which, & I’m not sure, but I think only a doctor can check for, & not with a mirror & pictures from Google).

        This movie didn’t suck, & the longer ago I watched it, the more I kind of like it. It did have funny moments, yet it still wasn’t up to par with Knocked Up. It didn’t even mention Ben & Alison (Seth Rogen & Katherine Heigl respectively); let alone a cameo during a birthday party. Oh, speaking of, know that there is a spoiler for Lost around this time in the movie (near the end). And here I thought there was an unspoken code to not talk about the ending of Lost, but whatever. Even though Seth & Katherine weren’t in the movie, there were many other famous (or at least familiar) faces riddled throughout it. Girls’ Lena Dunham (congrats on your Golden Globe wins. I say that like she reads this), John Lithgow, & the gynecologist from the first movie, among others. Plus, Melissa McCarthy was an angry, ranting mom whose son is classmates with one of the couple’s two daughters. She was so funny, & there was a blooper during the credits with her yelling at Pete & Debbie (Rudd & Mann). How comedians keep a straight face while making everyone else bust a gut laughing is beyond me, I just know I don’t want to play poker with them.

        Sadly, despite the funny moments made by funny people, this movie wasn’t as good as it could have been. They tried to make it its own thing (which may be why there was nothing about the original couple from Knocked Up), but they probably initially got the ball rolling on the film just for the sake of making money; this is more than likely why the movie fell in to the “the sequel wasn’t as good as the original” category. I suppose I would recommend this to some people, but it wouldn’t be in my top three recommendations.