Safety Not Guaranteed

Film: Safety Not Guaranteed

Starring: Mark Duplass (FX series The League), Aubrey Plaza (Funny People), and Jake M. Johnson (No Strings Attached)

Director: Colin Trevorrow

U.S. Release: June 8th, 2012 (Limited Release - Rated R)

Genre: Drama/Comedy

Runtime: 94 minutes


Mark Duplass is as versatile as they come. While the average Joe would only recognize him for his hilarious work as Pete on the FX original series The League, Duplass has made his biggest impact on the movie scene as a writer, director, and originator of "Mumblecore". Mumblecore is a term used to describe a large number of independent U.S. films released since the early 2000's. These films are detailed by an insanely low budget, minimal production value, and amateur acting. Mark Duplass, along with his co-directing brother Jay, helped spawn this branch of indie filmmaking and produce low budget features focusing mainly on naturalistic and sometimes even improvised dialogue. Since then, the directing duo has managed to make somewhat larger pictures with 2010's Cyrus and 2012's Jeff, Who Lives at Home. Although Mark Duplass has gone from being behind the camera to in front of it, with his latest work Safety Not Guaranteed, he and first-time director Colin Trevorrow offer up one of Summer's biggest underdogs.

Safety Not Guaranteed follows Darius (played by Plaza), a young keep-to-herself woman working as an intern for a Seattle magazine. When her boss Jeff (played by Johnson) decides to investigate a small town's classified ad requesting a partner for time travel, Darius and a fellow intern named Arnau join the team. Once  the trio identify Kenneth (played by Duplass) as the author of the ad, Darius eventually gains his acceptance and becomes a partner for Kenneth's "mission". While spending so much time together, Darius begins to see Kenneth in a different light and wonders if he's far less crazy than the everyone else believes.

Colin Trevorrow's directorial debut, Safety Not Guaranteed, is a shining example of the anti-Summer blockbuster. Serving as an eye-opening reminder that you don't need a huge budget or mind-blowing special effects in order to make a successful film, Safety Not Guaranteed delivers everything you want in a movie watching experience. Without a hitch, the feature blends together a heartfelt script including a top-notch love story, a touch of science fiction and more then enough laughs to leave the film feeling almost effortless. An enormous amount of credit must be given to the movie's writer, Derek Connolly, who has already won a 2012 Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance for the script. Connolly, who is also making his major motion picture debut as a scribe, avoids any first time mistakes as the screenplay is absolutely flawless. Rarely can a writer use words to craft such remarkably genuine characters, but Connolly strikes gold with this one. In addition to Connolly, Safety Not Guaranteed benefits from having a masterful collection of actors and actresses to help bring the words to life. The feature is brilliantly headlined by Mark Duplass, who once again reminds us that he brings so much more to the table than just directing. In his role as Kenneth, Duplass exemplifies a childlike sense of wonder and allure so well that it ultimately helps drive the performance given by his leading counterpart, Aubrey Plaza. In what is also her first leading role, Plaza's quaint beauty and genuine charm perfectly complement Duplass as their onscreen chemistry is indescribably unreachable. With so many "first timers" on the film, Safety Not Guaranteed goes beyond expectations and becomes a fresh, full of life experience.

Some may argue that Trevorrow and Connolly drown the movie in sentiment, but I'd disagree. While Safety Not Guaranteed definitely attempts to cater to the viewer's emotions, there's so many other aspects of the film to appreciate. Everything from the picture's laugh out loud comedic one-liners, to its sci-fi backdrop and subplot revolving around Jeff and his former high school fling (which is used to parallel the idea of time travel in some weird sense). Safety Not Guaranteed intends to leave a mark on its audience on various levels and, without question, it certainly does. With about 10 minutes left in the film, you realize that there's a million different ways the movie can conclude, and Trevorrow chooses the perfect one. You'll walk out of the theatre completely satisfied from start to finish and, believe me, that's a tall order these days.

With Summer blockbusters like Marvel's The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises set to destroy box office records, it's inevitable for a tiny diamond in the rough such as Safety Not Guaranteed to get lost in the mix. However, Colin Trevorrow's directorial debut is a must-see on all accounts. If you're into a well-written, sensationally acted drama that will keep you laughing throughout, look no further than Safety Not Guaranteed. I can confidently call it one of 2012's finest films.


Stars: 3 and a half stars out of 4

Grade: B+

Flight Trailer

Denzel Washington stars in Flight, an action-packed thriller surrounding an airline pilot who miraculously crash lands a plane after a mid-air malfunction. Although his heroics saves nearly every life on the plane, details start to emerge and a media frenzy leaves everyone grasping for the truth. Check out Flight's first official trailer below.

Prometheus

Film: Prometheus

Starring: Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Swedish Version), Michael Fassbender (Shame) and Charlize Theron (Young Adult)

Director: Ridley Scott (Gladiator)

U.S. Release: June 8th, 2012 (Rated R)

Genre: Sci-fi/Action

Runtime: 124 minutes


Since legendary director Ridley Scott (Gladiator and Black Hawk Down) first announced the plans for his newest science fiction endeavor Prometheus, many have speculated that the film would be a prequel to the director's most prolific picture to date, 1979's Alien. Let me preface this review by saying that Prometheus is only "kind of" a prequel. Less so a prequel and more so a deeper examination into the Alien universe that just so happens to come full circle. Now, with all cards on the table and a midnight and 3D showing of Ridley Scott's Prometheus behind me, let's get to the good stuff.

Set in the waning years of the twenty-first century, Prometheus follows a crew of scientists on a space mission to a planet believed to hold all of the answers to the origins of the human race. Meredith Vickers (played by Theron) and her human-like robot sidekick named David (played by Fassbender) lead the team of space travelers to the darkest depths of the universe. Once the crew arrives, head scientist Elizabeth Shaw (played by Rapace) and company find themselves in a battle to save Earth and the existence of the human race.

Scott once again elicits a visionary journey into the genre of science fiction. Prometheus is a delicately crafted riddle, purposely meant to stifle the viewer. Succeeding on an absolutely profound and visual level, Prometheus is a once in a lifetime optical euphoria. Scott goes beyond creating a world, he's officially created a universe. The effects are simply mesmerizing and beyond anything we've seen before, it's truly groundbreaking territory. Prometheus is without question a visual masterpiece, yet the plot intentionally asks far more questions than it ever intends to answer. By leaving an abundance of the story utterly unexplained, Prometheus has two consequential effects on the audience. First, it challenges viewers to really use their brains and think hard to try to piece together the bits and pieces they've been given to make sense of the whole experience. Depending upon the viewer, that can either be a positive or a negative. Furthermore, by leaving many aspects of the film open ended, Prometheus will ultimately feel like a rather feeble and weakly constructed set of ideas that cheapens the movie's stunning visuals. As a result, it appears as though Scott and writer Damon Lindelof have delivered a magnificent creation that even they know very little about.

On an entertainment level, Prometheus flows rather well and never feels too dull or boring. The two hour plus feature manages to keep the audience's attention, even throughout a handful of disturbingly irrational scenes (i.e. Rapace's abdominal surgery). Although the scares are surprisingly minimal, Scott does an adequate job of keeping the audience engaged throughout the film and it's a shame that the story leaves so many loose ends. In addition to its entertainment value, Prometheus offers a well rounded and effective cast. Charlize Theron never disappoints and Michael Fassbender's phenomenal work on screen only seems to reiterate the fact that he was undoubtedly robbed of an Oscar Nomination last year for his work in Steve McQueen's Shame. Also, Idris Elba is slowly starting to make a name for himself and I can see massive amounts of talent pouring out of every performance he gives, including this one. With the aid of an intriguing story and a wonderful cast, Prometheus leaves its mark as an entertaining and memorable thrill ride.

Make no mistake about it, sci-fi lovers and avid fans of Alien are sure to enjoy this new and fresh thought provoking exploration into the franchise. But as a whole, I was greatly disappointed by Scott's refusal to answer enough of his own questions. Obviously you must commend the director's attempt to address the curiosities of life's deepest and darkest mysteries. However, his lack of explanation for many of his character's vital on screen decisions seem to cheapen the whole experience. And if Scott wants to center a film around difficult and meaningful life questions, then the responsibility is solely on him to approach the ideas in a cohesive and constructive manner. Instead you get Prometheus, a visually stunning yet ambiguous journey that ends up feeling somewhat meaningless.


Stars: 2 stars out of 4.

Grade: C+

Django Unchained Gets a Trailer

Leonardo DiCaprio is gearing up for a pretty big 2012. First came the trailer for Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, and now Leo is doubling down in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained. And now that the trailer has finally arrived, all we have left to do is count the days until Django Unchained finally opens up in theatres everywhere.

Marvel's The Avengers News, The Dark Knight Rises and More

A mighty congratulations is in order for writer/director Joss Whedon and his mega-hit Marvel's The Avengers. The superhero all-star movie has officially become the third highest grossing film of all time, it only trails James Cameron's pair of blockbusters Avatar and Titanic.

In other news, we've recently discovered that Christopher Nolan's epic conclusion to his Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, will sport a theatrical runtime of 2 hours and 45 minutes. Leaving it 10 minutes longer than The Dark Knight and 25 minutes longer than Batman Begins. Furthermore, it was recently leaked that Warner Bros. executives wanted to force the hand of Nolan and have the director star Leonardo DiCaprio as notable villain The Riddler in the final installment. Unfortunately for Warner Bros., Nolan calls his own shots (I'd say that it's worked out pretty well for him so far) and decided to go with Tom Hardy as Bane instead.

Finally, it's funny how things come full circle as The Bible (ya know, the BIG book) is officially "in". Just last year we heard about director Darren Aronofsky's (Black Swan) plans to bring the story of Noah to the big screen. The film will star Russell Crowe as the main biblical figure and Aronofsky has just added a few more names to the cast. However, Aronofsky isn't the only big named director tackling a biblical tale. Fresh off of his European release of Prometheus (which hits U.S. theatres on Friday June 6th), Ridley Scott recently announced his plans to make a movie about Moses. When you've got big shots like Aronofsky and Scott telling the stories, who needs Sunday School?

The Bourne Legacy Trailer

Move over Matt Damon (no matter how much we loved you), as budding star Jeremy Renner takes the reins of the Bourne franchise. With The Bourne Legacy due to hit theatres this summer on August 3rd, we can only hope it follows the action-packed tradition of its predecessors. Take a look at the latest trailer, and judge for yourself.

May 2012 Poll Recap

The results are in for May 2012's poll question asking, "Which summer blockbuster will gross the highest amount". After the historic opening for Marvel's The Avengers, the upcoming release for Christopher Nolan's conclusion to the Batman trilogy doesn't seem like such a "sure thing" anymore. However, The Dark Knight Rises edged out the victory by claiming 50% of the vote. Marvel's The Avengers took home the silver medal by finishing with 41% of the votes. The only other film receiving any support was The Amazing Spiderman (8%), hmm ... I wasn't aware that Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield read my blog. Be sure to check out the June poll (located in the upper right hand corner) which asks, "What is your favorite Christopher Nolan Film".