MADE FOR TV SPOTLIGHT: The American Mall

The American Mall

Rated NR
Running time: 1 hr 40 mins
DVD/TV Release Date: August 11th

Cast:

Nina Dobrev

Rob Mayes
Autumn Reeser

MY REVIEW

The American Mall premiered on MTV a few weeks ago, and was also granted a DVD release. Making it a 2008 released film. Only qualifying for a simple little review from me, and thats all. The American Mall is a movie from the producer of High School Musical. It's about a group of young college bound students running amok in a mall, falling in love, having their hearts broken, and dealing with family issues. The movie never leaves the setting of this mall. If that didn't sound cheesy enough, the film is also a musical. Yes, these teens and twenty somethings break into song more than enough times to make me gag.

At least High School Musical was kind of charming and sweet, while still remaining corny. American Mall is just so overly cliched and ridiculous it got on my nerves. I mean you know exactly what's going to happen to every main character, you know how every storyline is going to end. This totally felt like a Disney movie, yet is from MTV Studios and debuted on the MTV network. I didn't know MTV had a target audience of 9 year olds. But yeah, the story is just so boring and tiresome and really just don't care about any of these characters, the good or bad. I hate to sound awful, but none of these people are what you would describe as being "hot" for a movie like this.

I don't know, but don't waste your time on this one. I suffered through it for the greater good to advise you all not to see it. I cannot stop you from checking it out, nor will I force you not to watch it. Just my opinion that most people I know that read this blog, would not care for this film one single bit.

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating: *1/2 out of *****

*This is the 84th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

*This film is now on DVD.

*Straight to DVD films do not qualify for my awards.

SHORT REVIEW: The Tracey Fragments

The Tracey Fragments

Rated R

Running time: 1 hr 15 mins

Cast:

Ellen Page
Maxwell McCabe-Lokos

Critical consensus:

**1/2 out of *****

Matt's Take:

Has Not Viewed

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:

***1/2 out of *****

The premise:

15-year-old Tracey Berkowitz is naked under a shower curtain at the back of a bus, looking for her little brother Sonny, who thinks he's a dog.

MY REVIEW

This is a film almost no one knows about; I wasn't aware of it until Netflix recommended it to me, so I checked it out. I'm glad I did. Tracey Fragments is not a film for everyone. It may only appeal to a very select few film buffs, like me I guess. The story is pretty dark and depressing, and no character is happy. The mood of the film is very morose and unnerving. You could say that the screenplay is pretty average and standard for an indie drama. However, it is in the filmaking where we get the films true unique quality.

Some films would not work as well if it wasn't as unique in style. Take for instance one of my all time favorite films, Memento. The film is a basic crime thriller story, but the film is told completely and literally backwards. We start at the end of the story and end at the start. A brilliant film. Here the film isn't told backwards, but is shot in fragments pieces...quite litterally The Tracey Fragments. Theres a screencap below to demonstrate the films look. Sometimes we get 2 squares, sometimes up to 30 or more it seemed like. These fragmented squares constantly move around. It beautifully captures the essence of the film and it's main character. The fragments are a very metaphorical device that I thought worked wonderfully. It made the film a 3 1/2 star film for me.

Pretty much the only star of the film is Oscar nominee Ellen Page (Juno, Smart People). I always figured she's be typecast as the smart ass teenager, but she proved me wrong here. Yes, she's still playing a teen, but a much more dark and sinister and deeply disturbed young girl. Her peformance is excellent, one of the best female performances of the year by far. You feel so bad for her, but also feel angry towards her at some points. Very good job at depicting this character.
If you happen to see this little known film on Netflix or at blockbuster, I would pick it up...to those who take a liking to independent dramas. If not for the story, check it out for Page's performance and just the overall uniqueness of it all.

CURRENT MIKEY @ THE MOVIES AWARD NOMINATIONS:

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Ellen Page)

To view this films theatrical trailer, click this link: Tracey Fragments

*This is the 83rd new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

*This film is now on DVD.

SHORT REVIEW: College Road Trip

College Road Trip

Rated PG

Running time: 1 hr 23 mins

Cast:

Martin Lawrence
Raven-Symone

Critical consensus:

*1/2 out of *****

Matt's Take:

D-

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:

* out of *****

The premise:

When an overachieving high school student decides to travel around the country to choose the perfect college, her overprotective cop father also decides to accompany her in order to keep her on the straight and narrow.

MY REVIEW

I won't waste but a few moments of your time with this one. College Road Trip probably is one of the year's worst films, and is definitely one of the years worst comedies. Every human being that acted in this film was incredibly over the top and almost made my ears bleed with their obnoxious bellowing of their lines. Raven Symone proved that she in fact cannot act, and her rediculously large breasts were all over the place. The only reason I mention that was because this is a childrens movie, and her character was always running or jumping around and her chest was just all over the screen, it was a bit innapropriate actually. Really though, I would suggest passing on this film if you want to have a truly good time. The movie was minorly saved by a boy and his pig...and I will leave you with that cliffhanger that will NOT be continued.

CURRENT MIKEY @ THE MOVIES AWARD NOMINATIONS:

• Worst Comedic Film of the Year

To view this film's theatrical trailer, click this link: College Road Trip

*This is the 82nd new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

*This film is now on DVD.

Tropic Thunder

Tropic Thunder

Rated R

Running time: 1 hr 47 mins

Cast:

Ben Stiller
Robert Downey Jr.
Jack Black

Critical consensus:

***1/2 out of *****

Matt's Take:

A-

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:

**** out of *****

The premise:

Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.

MY REVIEW

Tropic Thunder may very well be one of the years top comedies. To me, that isn't saying a whole lot though, because there haven't been a whole slew of great comedic films this year...in my opinion. This is a rated R film, but mainly for language and violence. What I appreciated was the fact there was a bare minimum of raunchy sexy jokes, and male and female nudity. The film was incredibly vulgar, yes, but that was very standable in my eyes.

The story is a good as it can be for a borderline spoof film. A group of cliched actors are thrown into a jungle in Southeast Asia to get a more realistic war film. A war film based off a book by a supposed war time hero, who now only has hooks for hands. It's actually quite a simple and fun story for a comedy these days. I mentioned spoof above. I feel this movie is spoofing the entertainment business. My good buddy Andy said it was like they were not only spoofing war films (like Platoon, Saving Private Ryan), but actors themselves, and I couldn't agree more. These characters are so over the top that they have to be making fun of actors.

The film was suprisingly "well-written" for a comedy. I use that loosely because it isn't a brilliant screenplay or one that will garner several award nominations, but it was funny! The movie is littered with hillarious one liners, and great dialogue for some characters. I never felt the humor was too ridiculous, and it never really re-used any of the same jokes as we see so often in comedies. To say the humor was "smart" may be a stretch, but I think the writing was just clever enough to not be in the same league as films like Step Brothers.

Tropic Thunder may also be the best acted comedy of this 2008 year to date. Leading the pack is Ben Stiller (There's Something About Mary, Meet the Parents), playing his normal over the top comedy character, but a little toned down. The first half he's actually quite "normal" for Ben Stiller. He does a great job at portraying a clueless actor. The second half, more towards the end he tends to get a little too much to handle. Maybe that was the way his character was written though, not really his fault. Oh wait...it is...Ben Stiller co-wrote the film. Next in line is Jack Black. Those who know me well enough, know that I hate Jack Black in films like this, because I feel he tries way to hard to steal the show. Now his character is very loud and animated, but actually I thought he was funny. He actually has "reason" to be why he is, due to his characters tiny drug problem. After a while, he got on my nerves, but he wasn't in the film enough for me to hate him for long periods of time.

The two stars of the film, are the ones who were in "disguises". First I want to mention the great Oscar nominated actor, Robert Downey Jr (Charlie Bartlett, Iron Man). This guy once again steals the show. He immerses himself in this character, a black man, so well you are almost convinced he isn't Robert Downey Jr. He truly delivers an unforgettable performance here, and he is now three for three this year. He's quickly rising as one of my favorite actors. Next we have Oscar nominated actor, Tom Cruise (Magnolia, Jerry Maguire). I had no idea the man was in the film before I walked into the theater. He is disguised in a fat suit and a bald cap, but you can tell it's him. Cruise may be crazy on the outside, but when he acts, he is usually amazing and Tropic Thunder was no exception. He was probably the most vulgar of the characters, but he was so great, and so funny he may get a supporting actor nod from me. I have to mention Matthew McConaughey (Fool's Gold, We Are Marshall) as well. Another suprise turn, and he was pretty good himself.

I wasn't aware that Ben Stiller directed this film until the credits rolled. I'm not going to lie, I thought he did quite a stand up job with this movie. There was nothing overly cheesy about anything he did with the craft of the film. Some pretty well shot explosions, some good camera work, etc. He handled his own screenplay well too. Overall, Tropic Thunder was a very nice suprise in a year of crap comedies. I'd definitely recommend this one to anyone.

CURRENT MIKEY @ THE MOVIES AWARD NOMINATIONS:

• Best Comedic Motion Picture


• Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Robert Downey Jr.)


• Best Character


• Best Character


• Best Cameo or Limited Role


• Best Line or Line Delivery


• Best Overall Scene

To view this films theatrical trailer, click this link: Tropic Thunder

*This is the 81st new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

SHORT REVIEW: Diary of the Dead

George A. Romero's
Diary of the Dead

Rated R

Running time: 1 hr 35 mins

Cast:

Michelle Morgan
Joshua Close

Shawn Roberts

Amy Ciupak Lalonde
Scott Wentworth

Critical consensus:

*** out of *****

Matt's Take:

Has Not Viewed

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:

**1/2 out of *****

The premise:

A group of young film students run into real-life zombies while filming a horror movie of their own.

MY REVIEW

Honestly, how much can possibly be done with the Zombie storyline? You have to admit, it is getting a tad tiresome. All these movies feature the same thing: a group of people are on the run from thousands of zombies with no hope for survival. We usually never know why these zombies are zombies; sometimes we are given a vague explanation. This movie is no exception, except it has one tiny difference that seperates it from the rest: it's all done on hand held camera.

The shaky, hand held camera filmaking technique has now been done enough, that it no longer has any originality. We saw it first in Blair Witch Project and now as recently as this year in Cloverfield. It's different and original for a zombie movie however, just not anything special. It does add some grittiness and some realism to the film I will have to admit. The zombie effects are done rather well, thanks due in part to George A. Romero's expertise in this film genre.

The zombie genre is Romero's baby, he knows what he's doing. Which is another reason why this movie is better than most. Romero is responsible for the original Zombie film, Night of the Living Dead and also films like the original Dawn of the Dead. Usually his movies are more than just about zombies, there are always some form of satire mocking our way of life or politics. I get the message in this film: we are obsessed with technology and we love violence. The two sometimes go hand in hand. That may not be the actual message Romero was trying to deliver, but that's what I felt from the movie. His direction doesn't really falter here, he knows just how to make an effective, scary zombie film.

The performances are what killed me here. I know you are not supposed to expect fantastic performances in a film like this, but my goodness. Mainly it was two actors: Michelle Morgan and Scott Wentworth. They are both so overly dramatic it kills me! You really have to see it to understand what I mean, but they both are so over the top it's ridiculous. Everyone else is pretty standard and expendable.

Diary of the Dead is only a decent zombie movie in my eyes. I'm not a huge fan of the genre so don't take my full word for it, this is just my opinion on a type of film I've grown tired of.

CURRENT MIKEY @ THE MOVIES AWARD NOMINATIONS:

• None

To view this film's theatrical trailer, click this link: Diary of the Dead

*This is the 80th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

*This film is now on DVD.