Quick and Dirty Reviews

The Lone Ranger (2 out of 5)

The Lone Ranger is a bloated, tonally inconsistent, predictable mess. A script that goes nowhere and a run-time that will have you shifting in your seat. The Lone Ranger struggles to get off the track of predictable summer blockbusters but contains only one mildly entertaining set-piece. Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp play the two leads and while both are serviceable action heroes they are led astray by a bland script that is mind numbingly boring and tone deaf. Cutting between buddy movie antics and the slaughter of countless innocent lives. There is even a scene in the movie where the villain cuts the heart out of a still breathing man and eats it. Umm what. The films is well shot, taking advantage of the impressively vast real world locations and shooting the majority of the film on camera, meaning few special effects. While the film is an all but assured flop, I stress that people evaluate why this movies fails. It isn't simply because its a western, or a remake of something nobody was asking for, or even Johnny Depp playing the same role he has been playing for the past 10 years now. Put simply this movie is uninspired everything feels clinical, as if its going through a check-list. Watching this movie you can practically see the business room filled with suits discussing the best way to design the film to appeal to mass audience and make the most money. Utterly lifeless and devoid of fun or very much entertainment its high time audience stop feeding directly out of the studio's hands.

Monster's University (3 out of 5)

Completely unnecessary and entirely adorable, Monster's University is another unspectacular entry in an increasingly long slump from Pixar. All the ingredients are here, the original voice cast is back and as exuberant as ever, plenty of call-backs and Pixar's great sense of detail. But I couldn't help but feel that the entire thing was entirely unneeded, unwanted and outright unnecessary. Prequels are hard to pull off, because you know how everything ends up in the long run. You know which characters will live, which will fail and the general state of the world far into the future of these characters lives. So instead its about the journey unfortunately there simply isn't much to say that wasn't already inferred from the original Monsters Inc. We knew Mike and Sully weren't always friends we didn't need to see the exact details. But the movie is filled with Pixar's signature humor, and heartfelt sincerity. Kids will love it, parents will find it better than most animated movies out there but I'm starting to wonder when the Pixar that was winning Academy Awards on a yearly basis will return.

Spring Breakers (3 out of 5)

An exercise in excess, Spring Breakers attempts to both mock and celebrate today's youths obsession with the superficial. A double edged sword that both cements this film as a cult-classic and an absolute mess of a film. James Franco stars as Alien, a Miami rapper who takes four girls under his wings. Franco steals every scene he is in, shockingly transformed, he embodies the disillusioned gangster completely. The film is hard to explain as the plot is simply four young girls head down to Miami for Spring Break and chaos ensues. Visually and audibly this film is striking using juxtaposition to unnerve and haunt the viewer, with beautiful melodies accompanying acts of violence. It's difficult to determine if the film has any real meaning or if it is simply as stated above a mirror being held up to today's youth. There were times when I struggled to figure out the context for any particular scene, wondering pointlessly if this was a movie about something more meaningful and thoughtful or if it was simply unhealthy candy, entertainment to be enjoyed but not overly analyzed. Either way its an intoxicating film that you will find difficult to erase from your psyche.